


Winds Of Change

by foxonfire0



Series: Winds Of Change [1]
Category: Young Justice, Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-23
Updated: 2014-01-23
Packaged: 2018-01-09 17:39:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 25,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1148925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foxonfire0/pseuds/foxonfire0
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been a few months since Impulse had rescued Blue Beetle, but the young speedster is still acting like it happened yesterday. His mind always on something other than their missions and his change in attitude begins to worry the team and the Justice League starts to notice as well. He is closing up and after almost a year of living forty years in the past, he chooses to contact home, but soon realizes that it was a big mistake. The only way to fix it is to get help from the 2056 Young Justice team, but after living under the Reach control for so long, will they risk to lose what little they have.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Flashback

**Author's Note:**

> Reposting this from my account on fanfiction/dot/net. A few things (SPOILERS) Wally West is still alive, Artemis has not been discovered as the spy, and Blue Beetle is not under the Reach control.

_A ball, made out of yellow cloths and taped together with silver duck tape, flew at Bart's head. He ducked at the last minute and looks to the dark blue eyed, black haired boy who just kicked at him. The two laughed "Hey!" yelled Bart, "I thought this was going to be a friendly game?" All of the twelve kids who were on the make-shift soccer field laughed. "When a Grayson plays, it's never friendly!" yelled someone. Bart and the black haired kid looked at each other and laughed again. "You know, just because my older sister is evil doesn't mean that I am," yelled back the black haired kid. "Yeah, whatever you say Derek" yelled a kid. “Yeah, it’s in your blood Grayson!” yelled another kid "Hey!" yelled Bart, "Derek no hard feelings right?" Derek nodded, "That's what best friends are for. Now let's continue this game so you can lose already." Bart and his team laughed, "You are on Grayson!" he yelled. "Bring it Allen!" yelled Derek._

**December 20, 2016**  
Hall of Justice  
11:36 AM

"Impulse," said Nightwing trying to get his attention. Impulse snapped back and looked around at Beast Boy, Blue Beetle, Robin, Bumblebee, Batgirl, Nightwing and Batman. Impulse rubbed the back of his head, "Uh, sorry. So you were saying something about a shipment that we have to stop?" he said trying to get Nightwing and Batman to finish the mission debriefing. "Maybe if your head isn't in the game, you shouldn't be on this mission," said Batman. Impulse took a minute and said, "Nope! I'm good. I'm fully ready. And my head is in the game." He let out a nervous laugh. Batman let out a small grunt and went back to the mission debriefing. Nightwing gave Impulse a suspicious look over and looked to the screen where the mission details where. "Now," said Nightwing as he took up where Batman went off, "Batgirl and Bumblebee will-"

" _Next goal wins!" yelled Bart and Derek together. Both teams got ready to go after the ball. Derek was the first one to start running, then Bart, then the others. Derek got the ball first, and started to head to the other side of the field. It didn't take Bart long to get to Derek, and then start to fight for the ball. Bart was holding back on his speed, like he always did. It was mandatory that he did, along with everyone else that had powers, or else, everyone, with or without powers, hero or non-hero, would be in trouble. Just as Derek got ready to shoot the ball into the empty space under a giant, fallen tree branch, a horn goes off. The children froze and looked around the half burnt forest. "Run!" yelled one of the ten to fourteen year old, "We need to get back to the Village!" yelled another child this one clearly much younger than the first one-_

"Okay, head out alpha and stay whelmed," said Nightwing as the screen disappeared. Impulse snapped back and noticed that Batman had left. Beast Boy, Blue Beetle, Robin, Bumblebee and Batgirl all noticed that Impulse didn't pay attention. They looked at Nightwing and they all nodded and headed to the bio-ship. Impulse went to follow and hopped that Nightwing didn't notice. "Impulse, stay behind." Impulse cringed and watched as the others left. He didn't turn to face Nightwing, "Your head is not in the game," said Nightwing, "Something is bothering you." Impulse turned and put on that fake smile, the he’s been wearing everyday since he came to the past, "I'm fine." Nightwing clearly didn't believe him, he sighed, "Just- just keep your head in the game." Impulse nodded and ran off to where the others were.

_All of the children dashed off of the ash covered field, leaving their ball behind. Bart and Derek wait until everyone is out of the clearing and run after their peers. "Bart!" yells Derek as he ran, "You need to get to the front and guide everyone to Gotham." Bart looked at Derek, "I can't use my powers or_ he _will find me. Remember," he said. Derek sighed, "All we can do is hope they are going the right way." Derek was quickly out of breath, Bart slowed down with him but also put one of his arms around his neck so that they could keep up with the group. Five minutes when by and they were still in the forest. Bart and Derek looked at each other with their eyes wide open, as they realized they were going the wrong way and there was no way to the others in the front-_

The six team members made it back to the Watchtower. Impulse didn't remember much of the mission. Only that they had succeeded. Blue Beetle fell back to where Impulse was walking, and as the others updated Nightwing at what happened, Blue Beetle tried to figure out what was wrong with Impulse. "Hey, hermano," whispered Blue Beetle, "What's the matter?" Nightwing and Robin where talking about the mission, with everyone else were jumping in at random places. Impulse was watching Nightwing and the others, "It's nothing," mumbled Impulse. _The Impulse is lying_ said the Scarab. Blue Beetle opened his mouth to press the issue but Nightwing cleared his throat to get their attention. Blue Beetle and Impulse both let out a nervous laugh.

After the update about the mission Nightwing dismissed them. Beast Boy, Blue Beetle, Robin and Nightwing where the only ones who stayed behind, the others left to go home, or get the sweat and dirt, from the mission, off. Nightwing looked at the three boys, "Something is bothering you three. I'm going to guess it's about Impulse," he said. The three nodded. Blue Beetle took a step forward, "We are all of Bart's friends but he has been slowly shutting down after-," he paused, "after seeing Black Beetle for the first time." Nightwing rubbed his forehead, "I've noticed. It's been nine months since our encounter," he said. He looked around and saw Batman standing in the doorway listening. "You're right," said Batman as he started to walk to the group. "The other members of the Justice League and I have noticed Impulse's strange behavior," Batman stopped when he reached the small group, "He's been acting strange since he first arrived eleven months ago, but it has become more apparent the last nine."

Bart, who was now in his jeans and green hoodie, hid around the corner and listened to everything, he wanted to run, he wanted to go and tell them what was really going on but since he left the future, he doesn't know what is still true and what isn't. Beast Boy chimed in, "Yeah I've noticed when he first got here. He didn't know a lot of things, and he doesn't eat much for a speedster-" Robin interjected, "But you also have to remember that he comes from the future. They aren't going to have the same things we do," he paused, "But you do have a point, Beast Boy. Things like holidays, fast-food-chains, televisions, and even that there are three meals a day; breakfast, lunch and dinner."

As he listened, Bart squeezed his eyes as tight as he could and made his hands into tight fists as the others talked. Batman put his hands up, as to silence everyone, "Yes, how Impulse's reaction to everything here is a bit odd, and sometimes even a bit disturbing, but he is now part of the team. And he is allowed to have secrets," Batman looked to Robin and Nightwing as he said the last sentence, "And if he wants to share them, he can. But don't pressure him into speaking what happens. Everyone might not want to know what happens in the future." Nightwing nodded and then added, "Basically, don't ask questions you don't _really_ want to know the answers to." Batman let out an approving grunt and walked out of the room.                                                                            

The four teens stood in the room for a few minutes in silence before they left. Blue Beetle rounded the corner and found Bart sitting on the floor with in head on his knees. "Something's bothering you, ese," he said, "The League has noticed and now everyone else is too." Bart didn't say a thing. Not knowing what else to say Blue Beetle's armor went back to the Scarab. Jaime looked at Bart for one last time, sighed and walked out of the room. Bart looked up after Jaime left, his eyes where blood shot and tear marks down his face. He looked around the empty room and stood up. He started to run at his top speed, only slowing down when he was going through the transporter.

Within seconds he was in a thick wooded area, about fifty miles from, what used to be, Mount Justice. The ground and the trees looking like they where dead, but because of the thin layer of snow, it also looked alive and peaceful. He looked around to make sure no one saw him, as the sun when down, Bart quickly found the time machine, hidden in the brown foliage. It was in the same condition as it was when he first arrived. Bart brushed the snow off of the top of the machine and opened the door. The young speedster dug around looking for something. When he finally got out of the time machine, he held a small cell phone type device. He took a small cord and held it to the wires of the time machine. The cord jumped at the wires and fused itself with it.

The screen in Bart's hand lit up. It was black for a minute, and then a picture emerged. It was fuzzy and a bit unclear for a moment. Bart bit his lip _Work, please work_ he said to himself. Just then a voice whispers over the device, "Bart!" Bart looked down and smiled, "Hey Derek," he whispered back. "How are my cousins twice removed doing? Are Damian and Maddi still fighting? Did Maddi figure out a way to help CJ? How is CJ anyway? Oh! Secret and Cissie, I want to know how they are doing, too." Bart paused and a big smile grew across his face, "Did Maddi and Jay hook up yet?"

Derek laughed but then put his hand across his mouth when he realized how loud he laughed,  "Well," said Derek, "No, my sister and Jay didn't hook up." He paused and the two fourteen year olds said in unison, "yet." Bart leaned up against a tree and slid to the ground, not really caring that he was sitting in the two centimeters of snow. As the sun completely disappeared and was replaced with the moon, and some dark clouds, Bart didn't take any notice to it and just continued to talk with his best friend, who was forty  years away.

After hours of talking, Derek and Bart both yawned at the same time. They tried to laugh but were too tired. On Derek's side of the phone his name was being yelled. "Looks like I got to go. I don't want my sister finding out that I can talk to you. She’ll get paranoid and start yelling." Bart chuckled as the cell phone like device went black. He got up and put the device back into the time machine, and camouflaged it once more. Yawning once more, Bart debated whether or not to run to his grandfather and grandmother's house. He decided that he would sleep for a little bit, that way he would be more awake when he snuck into the house and didn’t trip over every little crack in the ground. But once he fell asleep, against the tree that he was sitting at while he talked to Derek, he stayed asleep.

_The trees behind the group of children where crashing to the ground. Whatever was following them, it was catching up fast. Bart and Derek didn't dare to look back. But soon they find themselves in the group surrounded by giant wolves. The wolves shifted into human, as easily as Martins shift. Bart and Derek looked at each other, "They were part of the metagene project by the Reach, aren't they?" asked Bart. Derek didn't look away from the humans that surrounded them and nodded. "We are so moded" said Bart. Derek nodded, "You can say that again." The group of test subjects all let out laughs, a large guy stepped forward. The pre-teens assumed he was the leader. "Looks like we got some more test subjects for Beetle! Wee will be rich in a matter of-" he yelled._

_Just then arrows came out of nowhere. A short girl, about five foot five, with blue eyes and black hair stepped out from the trees, holding escrima sticks in her hands. All of the test subjects took a step back. A guy and a girl holding bows also stepped out. The boy, about nineteen, held a red bow as the girl, who looked younger than the boy but couldn’t exactly pinpoint her age, held a green bow. Both had arrows (that where clearly handmade) ready to shoot. The leader of the test subjects looked at the black haired girl. "Grayson" he growled. The girl got between them and the group of children. "What did I say about going near the people in the Village?" she asked taking a step closer. The leader stood up tall, "Madison Grayson. Why are you so protective of these… rejects?" he asked trying to get her angry._

_He then looked to the boy and girl with bows, "Jayson Harper, and Abigail West. It’s nice to see that you are guarding a wanted thief and not guarding people who actually need it." The leader laughed, he was followed by his little group. Jayson let out a little chuckle, Abigail spoke, "We are not here to guard Maddi. She doesn’t need it. We are here to make sure the children get back to the Village safely." Abigail started to usher the children in the right direction. The leader laughed, "Why in the world would anyone want to protect these worthless orphans." Jayson cringed, "Dude, you are going to be the one that needs protection and with that statement you just crossed the line." Jayson and Abigail quickly pushed the children toward the Village. Soon Abigail was leading the small group as Jayson was at the back. Derek and Bart fell back to talk with Jayson. "Jay?" said Derek._

_Jayson looked down at Derek. "Is Maddi going to be alright?" Bart was also wondering this, along with the other orphans in the group, but they all knew the answer. In the distance there was screaming and clear sounds of fighting, and then there was nothing. "Don't worry," said Jayson as he rubbed the top of Derek and Bart's heads, "If  you combine Mads  training, with and without the bats, along with the powers she gained in the test lab, she is the perfect killing machine." Derek and Bart both had an uneasy look on their face. Jayson quickly added, "But somehow she seems to be so loving and caring." Derek and Bart looked at each other and yelled together, "Jayson and Madison sitting in a tree!" Everyone laughed, even Jayson. "But seriously," said Jayson making the laughter die down, "when it comes to her family, and yes she counts all of the orphans she finds her family, she will fight to her last breathe to defend you." Bart, Derek and the others smiled and stayed quiet the rest of the way, knowing that Jayson was telling the truth._


	2. The Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been a few months since Impulse had rescued Blue Beetle, but the young speedster is still acting like it happened yesterday. His mind always on something other than their missions and his change in attitude begins to worry the team and the Justice League starts to notice as well. He is closing up and after almost a year of living forty years in the past, he chooses to contact home, but soon realizes that it was a big mistake. The only way to fix it is to get help from the 2056 Young Justice team, but after living under the Reach control for so long, will they risk to lose what little they have.

_Abigail and Jayson finally got the group of kids to, what they call, the Village. All of the kids, even Bart and Derek, had their heads down, not daring to look up at what used to be Gotham. It only took a few minutes to get to the apartment building that served as the orphanage and home to any children under the age of seventeen, who were able to even make it to the three story building without being caught by Blue Beetle, or any of his 'cops'. The blonde haired Abigail walked through the narrow door way first, while the red haired Jayson held the door open. All of the children went through quickly._

_Jayson looked down the torn up street, where many injured, dying, and scavengers were to spend the night. He sighed and went inside and shut the door tight. Bart finally looked around at the crowded home. "Hey CJ!" yelled Derek who was beside him. Derek ran over to a black haired, light blue eyed guy, who had a small tattoo of the superman symbol on his left bicep. CJ looked up from the worn table that had many different papers on it, all containing something different. Bart and Derek walked up, CJ quickly hid the papers. Derek opened his mouth but CJ said stopped him, "It's no one's business but Maddi's, Jay's, Abbie's, Will's, Damian's and mine. Got that?"_

**December 21, 2016**  
 **Central City  
** **12:00 PM**

Nightwing sat on the top of a three story building. It has been almost an hour since he contacted Wally. He didn't expect him to come but he hoped that he would. Finally Nightwing stood up, just as Wally appeared on the roof. Nightwing looked at Wally and sighed, "I know I'm not your favorite person right now-" "Gee, what makes you think that" said Wally cutting him off and his voice full of sarcasm, anger and worry. Nightwing took off his mask revealing his baby blue eyes. "Listen, Wally. I need your help," said Dick. Wally let out a snort but Dick ignored him, "Its Bart. He apparently didn't show up at Barry and Iris's house last night." That got Wally's attention. Dick continued, "Bart hasn't been himself lately. Well, ever since we found out about the Reach. He isn't telling us something, and I'm going to guess it has to do with the Light's partner."

Wally had heard enough, "Dick, I'm done with the hero stuff. I don't want to know about… that," he sighed, "Do you even have an idea where Bart went." Dick thought for a moment, "I looked at the security cameras at the Hall and all I know is that he headed toward Happy Harbor. I don't know why he would go there but still…" Dick trailed off. Wally nodded and turned to leave but stopped, "Have you heard anything from Artemis?" he said softly. Dick nodded, "Yeah, the mission is still going on. Aqualad is trying to find a weak spot but-" Wally held up his hand, "I heard all of it already. I'll go to Happy Harbor and see if I can find Bart."

Wally looked up to the sky and saw it was dark. Dick also looked up and put on his mask, "You should probably bring a jacket. It's about time it starts to snow," said Nightwing, "I don't think Bart has a jacket either. Last time I saw him he was in his jeans and green hoodie. And if you remember what it looked like when he first got here-" Wally interrupted, "There was nothing left of that thing." Wally sped home and quickly grabbed his coat and another smaller coat that he bought Bart when it started to get cold out. Before he left, he looked at a picture of him and Artemis at Jade and Roy's wedding. He felt something rub up against his leg and smiled down at the little bull dog. He quickly patted him on the head and rushed out the door.

It didn't take Wally long to get to Happy Harbor but by the time he got there was already three inches on the ground. He knew he had to find his cousin once-removed soon before he froze. The red head sped as fast as he could to find Bart. After a few minutes he did find Bart, who was huddled under a tree, shivering uncontrollably. Wally shook the little speeder. Bart opened one of his eyes, "W-w-w-wal-ly?" asked Bart before he closed his eye again. Wally quickly sat Bart up and slid the winter jacket over Bart's green sweater. Then he picked up the fourteen year old and sped to his house.

_Soon after everyone was in the make-shift orphanage, Madison walked through the door. CJ turned his attention from the two boys who were trying to look at the papers on the table, to the nineteen year-old girl, who had many dark tattoos along her arms, and crawling up her neck, finally stopping at her jaw line. Abigail and Jayson also looked at Madison as she walked in. Madison sighed and knew what was coming; she grabbed the worn leather pouch from her belt and looked around. She had a brand new cut under her right eye. She looked up, "Hey Abbie, Jay, Conner," she said smiling. CJ groaned, "What did I say about calling me 'Conner'? That is the original Superboy's name. Not mine," he almost yelled. Bart and Derek watched. It wasn't odd for everyone to tease each other and argue constantly, an apocalypse can do that to people._

_Madison sighed, "Fine, Junior." CJ opened his mouth to argue but nodded his head to the side, "That's better. I guess," he said as he shrugged and backed up from the table. Madison cringed and looked to the ground as CJ backed up his wheel chair from the table, gathered the papers from the table, and started to head out of the room. He stopped half way and grabbed Madison’s arm, "As soon as the little scavengers are asleep, we need to talk," he paused then added, "with everyone. And I mean Damian too." CJ let go of Madison's arm and headed took a left down a short hallway into his room._

_Madison continued to look at CJ's bedroom door, but then was snapped out of it when Derek ran up and gave her a hug, buried his head into his big sister’s side. Madison smiled and hugged Derek back, "I'm glad to see you are safe," said Madison. Derek let out a little chuckle and backed up from Madison, "I was worried about you," said Derek, "You do have anger issues." Madison shrugged and opened the leather pouch. She waived her hand over it and metal scales, about the size of dollars, and about two inches in length floated in the air, with little blue sparks going through the empty spaces between them, "The anger comes with the powers," said Madison._

_Derek and Bart both rolled their eyes. Jayson and Abigail both laughed. Then Bart stepped forward, "Why can you use your powers but I can't use mine?" Madison sighed and put the floating scales back into the pouch. "That is a long story. Sit," she commanded as she sat at the table and both Bart and Derek sat down. Abigail looked out the only window, in the house, that still had glass on it and no wooden boards over it. "I need to go find my brother," she announced. Jay nodded, "I'll help. We also need to find Damian too." Madison let out a little snort but the two cousins ignored it and headed out to search for the two missing team members._

Wally finally got to his house, and sat Bart on the couch. He knew that the little speedster didn't stay out in the weather too long and didn't need to go to the hospital, plus he didn't want to explain to the nurse or doctor how Bart is here but not supposed born yet. Bart sat up on the couch and quickly hugged his winter jacket to him, as he still shiverred. Wally sighed, "Let me call Uncle Barry and Aunt Iris to let them know you are alright," he said, "Just because there are two new babies in the house, doesn't mean that they don't care about you less." Bart smiled and let out a little chuckle, "You sound just like-" he stopped mid-sentence. Wally noticed Bart's expression change, and he was going to push it but first he had to let everyone know that Bart was safe.

After letting his aunt and uncle, the Justice League, the Team, and his parents that Bart was safe and with him, he got two bags of freeze dried Chicken Whizees, and two mugs of hot chocolate. Bart didn't move from his spot on the couch. Wally sat down on a chair next to the couch, and put the hot chocolate and Chicken Whizees on the coffee table. Bart looked up to Wally as if to know what was going to happen next. "Bart," said Wally as he saw Bart tense up, "Why where you in the woods? What where you doing out there?" Bart looked up at Wally and sighed, "I wasn't doing anything," whispered the little speedster as he looked at the coffee table.

Wally tried to get Bart to look at him. Bart then shook his head and grabbed one of the mugs of hot chocolate, he took a sip, "Wow," he said cringing, "this definitely warmed me up." Wally opened his mouth but Bart spoke first, "Hey, why don't we watch a movie?" Bart put down the cup and stood up to go get a movie but still held the winter jacket around him. Wally grabbed him and forced him to sit down. "The truth," said Wally, "start talking." Bart shook his head and almost yelled, "I can't! If you find out we will all be moded!" Wally held up his hand, "I don't care!" he said in the same tone as Bart, "You could have gotten yourself killed. Now," Wally's tone was softer now, "what was so important that yo-" "I was calling home! Okay!?" yelled Bart before Wally was finished. Wally sat back in surprise as Bart jumped up with anger, sadness, and tears in his eyes. Bart looked just like Wally when Mount Justice blew up and he believed that Artemis was in major danger.

Bart sighed and looked down at the floor again, "I called back to my time and talked to my friend to know what was going on. I guess I was just getting a bit home sick," he paused and added, "Well, my, uh, family, I guess you could say, is what I really miss." Wally now had his elbows on his knees and his hot chocolate in his hand. Bart sat down and picked up his hot chocolate, "Okay," said Wally, "a couple of questions," Bart nodded, "How did you manage to call back to your time? And what is with the hesitation with family? Aren't your parents still alive? Grandparents? Me?" Bart sighed, "I don't know how it works but Maddi was the one who made the time machine. So, her thinking ahead like all Grayson's do, made a device which you can hook up to the machine and call. Like a cell phone but with times."

Bart took a sip of his hot chocolate. Wally nodded, "Okay, I get it. Now my other questions," Bart nodded, "Fine, but you have to promise to protect me from Maddi," Wally couldn’t tell if he was joking or not. He then opened his mouth but Bart quickly continued, "No." Wally froze, and had a look of confusion on his face, "My parents aren't alive. My grandparents aren't alive. Not even you and Artemis are alive." Wally glared at Bart, "You knew about Artemis?" Wally's voice was a mixture of rage and relief. Bart nodded, "And Artemis will be safe. You two have two kids!" he said a little too happy. Wally shook his head, "Okay, that was a little bit of too much information."

Bart shrugged. Wally thought for a moment, "Why, aren't any of us alive?" Bart froze, "Because of the Reach apocalypse. After it the only people I could find who were related to me where Abbie and Will-," "My children," interjected Wally. Bart nodded, "We managed to contact Maddi-," "Dick's daughter?" asked Wally. Bart nodded once again, "Yeah. And she said that she managed to get control of the streets in Gotham. But I'm going to guess that was mostly because anyone who messes with her or her brother are never seen again." Wally smiled to think of one of Dick's children being even close to threatening.

_Derek and Bart raced up the stairs to the second floor. They both barged into the same room at the same time. "I win!" yelled Derek. Bart laughed, "You know, if I could use my powers I would have beaten you." Derek smiled, "Which means that you will always win. I'm just enjoying it for now," said Derek. Madison walked through the door, "Okay boys. Bed time." The two groaned as Madison went to the next room, then the next, and three more rooms after that, and finally going back to Derek and Bart's room. When she went back in the two boys laid on their part of the bunk bed that Madison found. Madison leaned against the door frame._

_"Good night you two," she said as she started to walk out. "Maddi!" yelled Derek. Madison looked back, Derek was sitting up and leaning on his hands, "I know I'm getting a bit old for this but," he paused trying to make it sound less childlike but failed, "bed time story?" Even Bart wanted to hear one. Maddi smiled and sat down on the floor of their room, "Okay," she said, "I'm going to guess one about-" Bart interrupted, "One about Flash!" he practically yelled. Madison smiled, "There is a lot of shouting going on today, okay," she said thinking for a moment then getting an idea, "Okay, one about Flash," Derek and Bart laid back down and listened to Madison's story.  “It was thirty-eight years ago, when Kid Flash, or as his loved ones knew him as,_ _Wallace West, took up the mantle of the Flash-”_


	3. A Terrible But True Dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been a few months since Impulse had rescued Blue Beetle, but the young speedster is still acting like it happened yesterday. His mind always on something other than their missions and his change in attitude begins to worry the team and the Justice League starts to notice as well. He is closing up and after almost a year of living forty years in the past, he chooses to contact home, but soon realizes that it was a big mistake. The only way to fix it is to get help from the 2056 Young Justice team, but after living under the Reach control for so long, will they risk to lose what little they have.

Bart and Wally both finished their hot chocolate, but the Chicken Whizees remained untouched, which showed how drastically the mood changed while Bart started to talk. Bart yawned, Wally looked at the clock and noticed that they spent the last couple of hours talking; it was now 10:30. Wally flashed to the closet with the extra blankets and pillows, and then flashed back to the couch. He saw that Bart was already fast asleep. Wally smiled and put the pillow down, moved his cousin, took his winter coat off of him, and covered him up with the thick dark blue blanket. Wally took one last look at his cousin, thought about everything that he had said about the future. He sighed and went to bed.

_After the boys where sound asleep, Madison left and went down to the main level of the building. While she was checking on all of the children, Abigail and Jayson got back from looking for Damian and William, everyone, including CJ were sitting in the dining room around the small rectangle table. CJ spread out the papers he had earlier and showed everyone. He sat at one of the short sides of the table. The twins, Abigail and William, sat next to each other, like they always did. Ever since they were little they have been attached at the hip. Being fraternal twins, William and Abigail have a hard time being separated. The two fight, constantly though. They often have to be broken up by someone else, usually Madison or Jayson._

_William had red hair just like his father, while Abigail had blonde hair. Both of their faces did look alike though, a perfect mixture between Artemis and Wally. They were both the same height, and their skin color was more on their mother's side than their father's. Their personalities, on the other hand, where very different. Abigail is more cautious and more on the 'sacredey cat' side, as her brother called it, even now when they were older, but her hesitation always caused her to think before acting  and not get hurt in the middle of a fight. While William was more brave and quick to jump ahead, which was probably cause by the fact that he got Wally's powers._

_They both are 26 but where kidnapped from one of their missions when they were 14, a couple days before their 15 th birthday, and had been 'put on ice' for about five years. They escaped after being frozen, and the facility that they were in was damaged by the war going on around them. Both soon ended up in Central City where they found Bart, Jayson, and a few other survivors. Abigail managed to contact Madison, who was in Gotham City at the time, trying to get everything under control. William and Abigail had led the small group all the way to Gotham and eventually the twins got the whole story from Madison, of what happened when they were frozen._

_The twin's cousin Jayson was sitting across the table from them, holding a spot for Madison to sit down. Jayson was raised by Roy and Jade, with their daughter Lain. His memories, from the day he was born to the age of thirteen, are just a blur. Having those thirteen years, just a blur, had troubled Jayson. Since, after a few fights with his sister, he started to think he might not be the son of Roy and Jade. After the Reach apocalypse, he started to hear rumors and actually started to get more info about his origin. They ranged from him either being a clone, a biological son of Roy and Jade, to even being the biological son of Lain._

_Those where the most popular of all the ones he had read and heard.  Now, Jayson had pushed past the fact that he doesn’t know his origin and he feels that he gets farther away from the truth every time he tries to dig. Roy and Jade both took him in and raised him. So it didn't really matter to him, plus he had other things to worry about these days. Madison hadn’t met Jayson until they were both in the testing facility for the metagene and had been best friends ever since._

_Damian was sitting across from CJ, with his arms crossed and looking down at the table. He was looking more and more like his father, Bruce Wayne, every day. Before heroes where banned from earth, Damian was Robin and trained with his father. Damian is 27 and was eight when Madison was born. He was ten when he first went to his father, after been trained by the League of Assassins. When his father died of natural causes, Dick had taken the role of Batman and trained Damian. After CJ, Madison, and Derek where kidnapped, Dick had spent most of his time looking for them. Damian was there to keep him sane, most of the time, and he was one of the three people who witnessed Dick’s death._

_Madison took her spot next to Jayson. Being the daughter of Dick Grayson, the first Robin, the adopted son of Bruce Wayne,_ and _the legendary Nightwing, she has felt the pressure of living up to the expectations set by her father and had taken it with ease. Her past, along with Derek’s is even a bigger mystery than anyone from the ‘bat clan’.  CJ   and Jayson are the only two who knows more about the Grayson kids than their parents, names and superhero names. CJ and, seven year old, Madison first met on a mission (one she wasn’t supposed to go on) with her father as Nightwing, Damian as Batman, and Superboy, AKA Conner, she was the one to find CJ but he wasn't grown to the age sixteen like Conner, he was only grown to the age of four. Conner took CJ home and raised him. CJ grew fast and in two short years, he looked, talked, and had the brain waves of a nine year old. He followed Madison’s growth rate ever since._

_When Madison and CJ where thirteen, they were both kidnapped, along with Derek, who was eight, and put in a Reach test facility where they had met Jayson. They broke out after six months, Jayson went to Star City to see if he could find anyone, and managed to find Roy and Jade, while CJ, Madison, and Derek headed to Gotham. It didn’t take Madison long to figure out what had happened when they where gone. She found Damian, alone in the Wayne Manor and talked to him before she left; Madison, Derek and CJ left Gotham and started to travel around the world and hid. During that time, CJ wasn't paralyzed from the waist down. Both Derek and CJ were kept in the dark of what had happened. Derek was eight and doesn't have much memory of what happened._

_Madison looked at the papers carefully and recognized them. They were covered with complicated mathematical problems and vague sketches, "My blueprints," said Madison, "Where did these come from?" she asked picking up one of the blue sheets of paper, with long, complicated mathematically equations on it and no drawings on it. Damian looked over to Madison, "I got them from Blue Beetle's collection. They were of top priority and was going to be the next thing the so-called 'scientists' where going to work on." Madison sighed and put the paper down, "He's not going to figure it out, neither are the scientist he has working for him. These aren't two plus two equations. They have imaginary numbers, radicals-" CJ cut her off, "It isn't him figuring it out. It's his plans with a time machine that I'm worried about." Everyone nodded their heads._

_Upstairs Derek and Bart had snuck out of their rooms and headed to the part of the building where they could hear what the six teens where talking about. The boys where stopped by two girls. Both with blond hair, but one girl was almost see through while the other was not. "Move out of the way, Cissie," whispered Bart. Derek nodded, "You too, Secret." The two girls rolled their eyes. The girl that was almost see through became solid once more, "What did I say about calling me Secret?" she asked, "I've finally learned to speak so call me by my real name, Greta." The two boys shrugged, the other girl, Cissie, finally spoke, "You two are spying again," she said a bit loud. Everyone, even Greta shushed her. "C'mon," said Bart, "All six of them are keeping a secret and I want to know what it is!"_

_The two girls thought for a moment, "Fine," said Cissie, "But you got to tell us what it is after you are done." Greta and Cissie went to their room. "Goodnight Secret and Arrowette" said the boys together. The girls turned around and spat back together, "Goodnight Impulse and Robin." Greta went through the wall without a problem and Cissie went through the door and closed it quietly. When the boys managed to get to the room with the vent leading down into the dining room where the six teens sat, they laid low and listened carefully._

" _I don't know," said Madison, "Why and where in the time line would Beetle want to go? He has full control over this era and the next."_ _William spoke up, "Maybe he is trying to get control over an earlier time. That way he can control longer." Madison nodded her head as if saying 'good point'. CJ looked to Madison, "Didn't you say that you made a prototype of the time machine?" he asked. Madison nodded, "Yeah. It was when Dad was still alive. We worked on it in the basement," she let out a little laugh, "Mom was so mad when she saw the mess that he and I made." Jayson leaned forward, "What happened to it?" he asked, "Because if it wasn't destroyed, can't Beetle just fix it. That way he just has to figure out the part of the blue prints that needs to be fix and not the whole thing." Damian shook his head, "No. That machine was distorted with the explosion." Damian looked at Madison who sunk in her chair a bit._

_Abigail looked at her, "OMG!" she practically shouted, "It isn't destroyed!" Madison let out an uneasy laugh, "Well, you are half right." Abigail leaned back into her chair as William said what was on everyone's mind, "What do you mean 'half right'?" Madison leaned on her elbows, "Well," she started, "After dad was ki-" she cleared her throat, "I mean died, I didn't destroy it like I should have. It's still in our basement. It's damaged but not fully destroyed," she said quietly. All of the teens groaned. The two fourteen year olds backed up from the vent. "You hear that?" asked Derek excitedly. Bart nodded, "Yeah. A way to go back in time," he said thinking. Then Derek spoke, "Well, we could go back in time and stop Beetle from going on mode. Then everything will be crash!" he said quietly but with lots of excitement in his voice. Bart and Derek stood in silence for a little bit, then Bart said, "Yeah. But shouldn't someone else like, Maddi or Jay, or someone else do it?"_

_Derek thought for a moment, "They should," he paused, "But CJ can't do it for, obvious, reasons," Bart nodded, "Okay, so how about Maddi? Jay? The twins? Damian?" Derek sighed, "Maddi doesn't want to leave me alone, Jay will stay at Maddi’s side, Abbie gets too scared, Will acts before he thinks, and Damian, well, we don't really know what side he is on." Bart nodded, "You're right. But Maddi isn't going to let you go so easily," Derek sent a knowing smile toward him. Bart shook his head, "No. No. No. I'm not doing it." Derek rolled his eyes, "C'mon. I'll fix it and then you can use it," he said. Bart looked at Derek and then nodded, "You do have a point," said Bart. Both boys paused and then Bart said, "Okay! Let's do it!"_

_"Boys! Bed!" yelled Madison from down stairs. The two boys ran to their room and quickly laid in bed. Bart rolled over and looked down from the top of the bunk bed, "How are we even going to find the time machine?" he asked. Derek looked up from the side of the bed, "Well," he started, "Maddi said 'it was still in the basement'. So that means it has to be around here somewhere. All we have to do is find the last home that Mom, Dad, and Maddi lived in, before I was born." Bart looked a bit confused, "Okay," said Bart, "Do you even know where that is?" Derek shrugged, "I don't know. But I know where we can find out. Wayne Manor." Bart shook his head, "But that's on the other side of-" Foots steps in the hall made the boys jump and quickly pretend they were sleeping. After five minutes Derek said, "Between you and I, we can get over their without Beetle or the cops knowing," he paused and then added, "As long as we take the sewers." Bart and Derek both let out quiet laughs and they both fell asleep._

Bart jumped awake with a scream. Wally was by Bart's side in seconds. He saw that his cousin's face was stained with tears. Bart leaned on Wally as he finished crying, Wally awkwardly patted the little fourteen-year-olds back. "Uh, don't worry, um, Bart. It was only a bad dream," he said, saying what his mother used to say to him. Bart frantically shook his head, "That's the problem," he choked out, "It was the night that Beetle caught me and-" Wally didn't know what to say next and said the next thing that made sense to him, "What-How did Beetle catch you? And who is the 'and'?" Bart pushed away from the older speedster and looked up at him, "Well, my best friend Derek-"

"Grayson?" interrupted Wally. Bart nodded, "we over head the older heroes talking about a time machine, and its whereabouts. We both knew that the others wouldn't go, and it seemed like the only option to _fix_ the future." Bart took a deep shaky breath. Wally was now sitting across from Bart on the couch, "We only had a night to plan it. We were afraid if we waited, even for twenty-four hours, Maddi," he paused, "or the others" he added as a side note, "might find out and we wouldn't be able to have this chance." Bart looked to the ground, "So we headed to Wayne Manor, where we _thought_ we would find a way to get to the Grayson's house." Wally looked at Bart, "By the tone in your voice I take it you didn't find the Grayson's house?" he asked. Bart shook his head and looked up, "No we didn't, but we did find something, but not what we planned to find at Wayne Manor…"


	4. Manor, Machine, Neutron, Beetle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been a few months since Impulse had rescued Blue Beetle, but the young speedster is still acting like it happened yesterday. His mind always on something other than their missions and his change in attitude begins to worry the team and the Justice League starts to notice as well. He is closing up and after almost a year of living forty years in the past, he chooses to contact home, but soon realizes that it was a big mistake. The only way to fix it is to get help from the 2056 Young Justice team, but after living under the Reach control for so long, will they risk to lose what little they have.

**February 20, 2056**  
Outskirts of Gotham City (AKA the Village)  
3:15 AM

_Bart and Derek looked out their bedroom door. They looked up and down the hallway and both, with backpacks full of supplies, they quietly went down stairs. They heard CJ sleeping in his room. They saw Madison sleeping with her head on Jayson's shoulder on the couch. The twins where sleeping on two separate recliners across from the sofa. Damian had fallen asleep on the old wooden floor that used to have carpet on it but it was now torn up. Without making a sound, the two fourteen year olds snuck out of the building and made their way to the nearest manhole cover. Using a crowbar that Derek had in his backpack, they wedge it under the cover and opened it. Bart was the first one to jump in, followed by Derek who made sure the lid was back over the entrance into the sewer._

_The two clicked on the flashlights that where attached to the straps of the backpack. Derek pulled out a map of the sewer ways. "Your sister is going to kill us," said Bart. Derek laughed, "Then, stay whelmed." Bart rolled his eyes at his friend that used the new vocabulary that his father 'invented'. "And if we get in trouble, we call for help," said Derek he tapped the wrist communicator, that just looked like a large square watch. The tapping echoed down the sewer. Derek and Bart had goose bumps from the creepy tunnel. Derek started to walk, as Bart followed the map keeper. It took them over an hour before they got to the closest exit to Wayne Manor. Derek hurried up the ladder along with Bart. The two boys popped out of the hole and hurried for cover by an over turned car. "There," pointed Derek to the large gates with a giant 'W' above it. "Wayne Manor" the boys said together, sounding like they were hypnotized by the giant, crumbling building about two miles away from the gate._

_Rocks from a building across the road fell down and the boys jumped. They both let out uneasy laughs, "Okay," said Derek not sure that they should be doing this now, "Let's go." Derek and Bart ran to the gate and took no time at all to climb over the fence. Then Derek ran as fast as he could, and Bart matched his speed. It took them two minutes to get to the front doors the building. Derek and Bart hesitated before they slowly opened the doors and went inside. There was nothing left on the inside, only dust marks from where old portraits where hung. "Wow," said Bart. "I know," said Derek, "Maddi used to live here along with Dad." Bart could only say one thing, "Wow." Even though the old house was falling apart, it was still elegant, with a hint of dark secrets behind it._

_Derek looked up the stairs, "There," he said pointing up, "Those stairs still looked intact. I am going to guess that Mr. Wayne's office is up stairs. And where there is an office, there are files for communication, along with-" Bart finished Derek's sentence, "addresses." Derek nodded and started up the stairs. Each stair creaked and sounded like they were about to fall. Soon they made it to the top. "Okay," said Derek, "You take the left side of the hallway and I take the other. First one to find the office, shout out to the other." They started down the hall. Bart was the one to find the office; there were still books and other papers left in the room. "Found it," he said. Bart walked in and started to look at the papers; Derek walked in shortly after and looked to the bookshelves. "Hey, D," said Bart using the pet name he had almost forgotten about but looking at an old burnt out computer reminded him of the old Derek from their younger years._

_Derek walked up to the computer and pushed the button, the screen lit up and went black again, "I can't believe it's still working" said Derek as the computer got to the lock screen. He started to try and type up the right password. Bart continued to look among the drawers in the desk, then moving to the papers on top of the desk, then to the ones on the floor, then to the book shelves. "No!" Derek said loudly but still managed to grab hold of the volume of his voice. Bart looked to Derek who was trying to get the screen to the computer to stop flickering, then, it shut completely down. Derek pounded the top of the computer, sending vibrations throughout the whole room. Everything went still, Derek sighed, "Well, that was our only chance of finding it."_ _Bart looked at the books around the room, "Maybe-" just then the floor under Derek collapsed._

_He screamed as he fell through the second floor and through the non-existing first floor. Bart ran at his top speed and made a miniature tornado to catch Derek on the basement floor. He set Derek safely on the ground, whose face had turned pure white. "Thanks," he said almost out of breath, "You were right, Bart. We should have never done this," Bart left Derek and looked around; he spotted something out of the corner of his eye. Derek got up and dusted off his pants, "This is a dead end," he said. Bart shook his head, "No it's not. Look," Bart pointed toward the object that looked like the picture in the time machine blue prints. "That's it!" said Derek excitedly as he ran up to it and started to look it over. Even Bart smiled, thinking of how they are going to be able to change the future now._

_As Derek pulled off his backpack, the whole Manor shook. "It's coming down!" yelled Bart. The two boys looked scared. Leaving Derek's backpack, the two headed to a stair way that headed above ground. They managed to lug it all the way to the over grown field behind the giant house. Bart ran back inside, going as fast as he could and grabbed Derek's backpack and made it back out just as the whole mansion collapsed on itself. Derek grabbed the backpack from Bart's hand and slipped it on. Derek looked to the skies, "We should move the machine to a different place." Bart thought for a moment, "I know just the place. It is just outside of the Village."_

_Before they were able to go, a glowing red person appeared above them and glared down at the boys. Bart and Derek didn't move and didn't know what to do. "What do you two boys think you are doing?" he asked in a menacing voice. Derek stepped up, "We are trying to get to a place outside of the Village, so that we can work on this," he said pointing to the time machine. The glowing red man looked at the machine and then back to the boys, "And what do you plan to do with this, machine?" he asked. Bart stepped up this time, "We plan to fix this time. So that Beetle isn't in control." This peaked the red man's interest. He thought for a moment and said, "I will help you. Anything so that I'm not trapped in this suit, and Beetle isn't in control." The boys looked at each other with shock expressions, "Okay," said Derek, still a bit confused, "I'm Derek, and this is Bart." The glowing man nodded, "Call me Neutron. For now anyway."_

_The boys didn't dare ask any questions. "I know where we can keep this time machine. Ever heard of a place called Happy Harbor? It's completely deserted now. Perfect place plus Mount Justice used to be there, so it already has good supplies to fix it." The two boys lit up with glee, "Okay!" said Derek, "Let's get to it!" Neutron nodded and in minutes they were at Happy Harbor. Derek put his backpack down and took out a couple of blue prints. "D," said Bart, "You are just like your sister. I didn't see you take those off the table." Derek only smiled. Then finally said, "We just need to find what is wrong with the machine, find the right parts and put it together."_

_Derek, Bart, and Neutron took an hour to find what Madison had missed. Derek quickly made a list and split it between Bart and Neutron. "Okay," said Bart, "As long as we get everything, don't get caught by Beetle and your sister," he looked at Derek, "We will have the future fixed in no time!" Derek nodded, "Yes, but very bad pun." The two boys laughed, even Neutron let out a chuckle. "Okay. Same time tomorrow?" asked Derek as he looked to Neutron. "You can count on it," said the man in red. As they began to go their separate ways Neutron was shot in the back by a tranquilizer and fell to the ground. Derek and Bart knew what that meant. They tried to run but were blocked by Blue Beetle himself. The boys stayed where they were as Beetle let out a terrifying laugh, "It's so easy now a days to find people," he said, "Especially when they have super powers." Bart and Derek remembered that Bart had used his powers to save Derek from the fall, Beetle tracked the use of Bart's metagene, just like a tracking device._

_Meanwhile, Madison, Jayson, and Damian found their way toward Wayne Manor. "I can't believe you used to live here, you two," said Jayson as he looked to the collapsed building, "It's a dump." Madison gave Jayson a little glare and Damian laughed. "It didn't look like this when I or Damian lived here." Jayson smiled, "Well, that's good." Madison just rolled her eyes. Then Madison's wrist communicator went off, along with Jayson's and Damian's. She looked down at it and saw it was from Derek and Bart. "Oh no," she said. Even Jayson and Damian looked worried. Madison quickly opened her little pouch on her side and she controlled the little metal scales. She made a platform where Jayson and Damian got on. It didn't take them long to get to Happy Harbor._

_When the three got there, Madison lowered them a foot above the ground and made the scales go back into the little pouch. They all landed safely in a crouch but the three bounced up quickly and got ready to fight. "Back away from the boys Beetle," yelled Madison. Beetle looked from the scared little boys to the nineteen year olds who stood ready to fight. When Beetle wasn't looking, the boys started to run. Beetle quickly turned around and shot an energy cannon toward the boys. Madison one of her tiny little scales toward the beam, deflecting it. Jayson took out an arrow full of foam and shot it at Beetle. Beetle didn't even try to dodge it; he only laughed and exploded out of the foam shooting an energy cannon at the archer knocking him to the ground and out cold._

_Damian and Madison knew they were no match for the alien tech. Beetle turned back to the boys who had stopped and looked back to see if they could help. While they looked, Beetle shot a sound wave at them knocking them out, but not harming them. Madison jumped at Beetle, who in turned just hit her with his arm. During this, Damian had disappeared. Beetle looked at the passed out teens. Beetle looked to Madison and Jayson first then quickly went over to the two younger boys. He reached down to pick up both of them then stopped half way. "You're right," he mumbled and only picked up Bart who was half awake now. "No-" protested Bart but he was still a bit woozy. Then went over and picked up Neutron._

_Beetle shot a flare in the air. Jets came out from the back of Beetle, and he shot in the air with the little speedster and old metagene experiment on his shoulders. Bart opened his eyes as they took off. Beetle stopped and hovered in the air above the Bart's three unconscious friends. "Take a look, Impulse," said Beetle as the same wolves that attacked the orphans started to surround the three. "And say good bye to your friends. And your last hope for freedom." Bart heard Beetle laughed and passed out again._

_When Bart woke again he was in a middle of an ash covered area surrounded by tall wire fences, with an inhibitor collar on._ _He slowly got up and looked around. There were many other people as well, he didn't know if any of them had powers but he guessed that they didn't. A shadow came over Bart, he smiled up at the sort-of familiar face, "Hey Neutron," said the little teen. Neutron was now human but still looked sickly. "Please," said Neutron, "Call me Nathaniel." Bart looked at him with his head tilted. Nathaniel laughed, "My real name Nathaniel Tryon. Anyway," said Nathaniel waving his hand in dismissing the matter, "The time machine isn't far from here," he pulled out a little round pill. "Here is what I need you to do when you go back. It should fix the future and prevent everything from ending up like this. Are you still in?" Bart thought for a moment and nodded. Nathaniel smiled, "Great,"_

Bart had stopped crying during his story but his eyes where still blood shot and there was still tear stains on his face. Wally looked at the clock; it was now 1:30 AM. "Wow," he said, "So, you didn’t actually know what happened to the others." Bart shook his head, "Not even a hint. Until I was about to leave for the future." He felt sobs coming back on. Wally pulled Bart into a one armed hug, "It's okay. If they are anything like their parents, then they should be thriving, right?" Bart nodded and in only a couple of minutes Bart fell asleep. Wally put Bart down, he looked out cold and Wally decided to go sleep on the chair by the couch. Soon he was asleep as well.

Wally woke up at nine as his cell phone went off. "Hello?" he mumbled into the phone as he tried to wake up. "Hey. It's me Dick," said Dick on the other line. Wally looked over to the Bart who was still sleeping on the couch, "Hold on," he whispered into the phone as he ran up the stairs into his room. "Okay, I got a lot of the story from Bart. And I know what he's acting like he is," said Wally. Dick didn't say anything then said, "Well?" Wally sighed, "He's had a pretty bad past. Just as bad as yours, maybe even worse," Dick stayed quiet, "And you were right. The future is just as bad as we think it is. And I only know half of the story." Dick stayed quiet a little bit longer and said, "Okay, start talking." Wally started to tell Dick everything that Bart had told him.


	5. In The Other Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been a few months since Impulse had rescued Blue Beetle, but the young speedster is still acting like it happened yesterday. His mind always on something other than their missions and his change in attitude begins to worry the team and the Justice League starts to notice as well. He is closing up and after almost a year of living forty years in the past, he chooses to contact home, but soon realizes that it was a big mistake. The only way to fix it is to get help from the 2056 Young Justice team, but after living under the Reach control for so long, will they risk to lose what little they have.

**February 20, 2056  
** **Happy Harbor  
** **1:02 PM**

_Madison woke from the ground and started to get up but was pushed back down. She looked up and glared at the leader of the pack. “Hello, little Madison,” he said. Madison tried to get up again but was just pushed down, the pack laughed. Finally she stayed down and looked around; she saw Derek and Jayson next to each other, still unconscious on their backs. Madison looked at the pack leader, “Hey, how’s it going, 223?” she said a bit sarcastic. The leader looked down at the 223 tattoo on his forearm. 223 glared at Madison, “You shouldn’t be talking 200.”_

_Madison looked down at the 200 tattoo on her forearm that was surrounded with other tattoos. 223 let out a deep laugh, “You haven’t changed a bit, Grayson,” he took a step closer to Madison, as she backed up, “you always know how to get under peoples skin,” another step closer, backed up, “you always get what you want, and you don’t care who you hurt,” another step, backed up, “But now,” 223 stopped and laughed, “I’m going to put an end to all of it.” 223 shifted with ease in to a large orange and black tiger, “Get ready to say good bye.” Madison continued to back up, 223’s followers laughed and watched. Just then an arrow came and struck 223 in the side. It then sat his fur on fire, 223 jumped and shifted back to his original human form._

_Madison swung her legs around and knocked him to the ground and used enough force to put her back on her feet in one move. She looked down at the man who was now trying to cool down the burn on his side. “You may have the shifting abilities of a martin,” said Madison, “But you also have their weakness as well.” She looked over to Jayson who was now standing up and had an arrow ready, aimed at 223. Madison jumped toward him, scaring him and his followers, and sent them running. She didn’t take her eyes off of them until Jayson yelled for her, “Mads!” he yelled. Madison groaned at the nickname that she hates. “It’s your brother.” Madison quickly went over to, a still unconscious and very pale, Derek. She turned him from his side to his back and saw that blood had dried under his nose._

_Madison was now trying her best not too freak out. She shook his gently, “C’mon Derek. Wake up.” Jayson stood back and watched, knowing that Madison might rip off heads if they came close to Derek. Derek finally cracked an eye open, Madison smiled in relief. “My head hurts,” he said. Madison nodded, “Try and get some sleep, we will get you home,” she said. Derek nodded and closed his eyes. “Jay,” said Madison. Jayson went over and, with the help of Madison, put Derek on his back; he hung there like a rag doll._

_It only took a half a mile before Derek manage to fall asleep on Jayson’s back. “You know,” said Jayson softly, Madison looked up from the ash covered ground, “We need to find some real help for Derek-” Madison cut him off, “I know. But it’s not like we can just go to the nearest hospital and have him treated for anemia.” And then her voice got really low, “We are running majorly low on iron pills and shots. Our supply won’t last the year. Then neither will-” She stopped. Jayson looked at Madison; a bit shocked she would say that but knew it was true. While CJ, Derek, Jayson and Madison where planning to get out of the testing facility, Madison managed to steal some medicine to help Derek, but over the ten years of surviving on scraps, the supply was running low, not enough to last the year._

_After a few more feet of silence, “Why where the boys out here in the first place?” asked Jayson as he stopped and turn to look back. Madison looked back as well but saw nothing. “I have no idea. But now we have lost Bart, and Derek was almost killed.” She sighed and started to walk away from what used to be Mount Justice. Derek managed to open his eyes and still saw the time machine, he cracked a smile and went back to sleep. Jayson shrugged and trotted to catch up with Madison._

_It was uncomfortable silence as the three made their way back to Gotham, Madison broke the silence, “I swore to myself that I would keep any orphan safe,” she said. Jayson looked over to her, “There was nothing you could do Mads,” Madison interrupted, “What did I say-,” Jayson shook his head, and readjusted Derek on his back, “Just listen,” Madison kept quiet and looked at the ground, “We lost one. And yes Will and Abbie won’t be too happy about it but there was absolutely nothing we could do._

_We can try to get him out of slavery but we probably will get caught. And then there would be no one to take care of the Village.” Jayson paused, “And don’t go and try to go after him by yourself,” Madison looked up from the ground, “if you die or get caught, the orphans have lost hope like the rest of us.” She sighed and then nodded, “Though I don’t want to admit it: your right, Jay.” Jayson smiled, “What did you say? I think I had something in my ear.” Madison laughed, “Don’t push it Harper.” Jayson gave Madison a little push, and Madison did the same back. Now that Jayson and Madison started to talk, the time and the distance went a lot faster than it would have been if they stayed in the silence._

_Soon, they were going through Gotham. They made their way between over turned cars, light poles that fell, broken glass shards from the buildings high above their heads, torn up pavement and cement from the road, and trash that people collect to warm their shelters. The buildings around them didn’t have any windows, or if they did they were covered up by wooden boards. Madison and Jayson finally got to the Village._

_The Village was all of the buildings on the outskirt of Gotham. It was the only place that had electricity, and working pluming. The electricity was only used at night and during the winter for heat, otherwise it was shut off. Also the perimeter of the Village was a brick wall. It was clearly just built. Along the top of the wall was barbed wire. There was only an open area which served as the only way in and out of the little area. When Earth wasn’t being run by Beetle, the Village was just a run down, bad part of the city where almost nobody came._

_The teens made their way through the Village to get to the old apartment building farthest away from the entrance. Madison climbed up the crude made wooden stairs and quickly opened the door. Jayson went inside and went into the living and put Derek on the couch. CJ was at the table like he usually was. He looked up and rolled back and then rolled to the living room part of the connected room. “What happened?” he asked. Madison ignored CJ and went to Derek, she woke him and told him to stay awake and she ran out of the room. Greta and Cissie along with a few others sat on the stairs and watched between the railing bars._

_Jayson stood by CJ, “I don’t really know. All I know is that Derek and Bart where in Happy Harbor, with someone else, and Beetle was there,” CJ stayed quiet, “Bart was taken. Damian is somewhere and Derek got knocked out from one of his sound wave cannons and it triggered a seizure. Where are the twins?” Derek was sitting on the couch with his legs stretched out. He was looking at his hands, the blood still dried under his nose. His head kept drooping and popping up as he tried to stay awake._

_“The twins went out hunting and scavenging. You know yours and Maddi’s job. They should be back soon,” said CJ. Jayson nodded. Madison ran back into the room and kneeled by Derek’s side, “Stay still,” she ordered, Derek did just that as Madison poked his arm with a needle. Derek winced; he was never a big fan of needles. “There,” she said taking a washcloth and cleaning up the blood. Derek jerked away and snatched the washcloth out of her hand. She smiled, “I’m glad you’re feeling better,” she said standing up. Derek wiped his face with the wash cloth and handed back to his sister._

_Madison put the needle in the washcloth and put it down on a side table, “Now, do you care to explain?” she asked crossing her arms. The orphans on the stairs have double and they were piled on top of each other trying to watch. Derek looked up at Madison and shook his head, “I don’t want to,” he mumbled. Madison sighed, “Fine. Go upstairs and sleep. Tomorrow I expect you to tell me the whole story. Or,” she paused for effect just to humor the ones on the stairs, “you will be grounded, to the Village. You won’t be able to go and play outside of the borders.” Her voice was commanding. Jayson and CJ looked shocked, Madison has done some terrible stuff in her nineteen years of living but has never done anything back to any family member, and she hasn’t even punished Derek before but times where changing. Everyone knew something big was going to happen._

_Derek looked up shocked at his big sister, “For how long?” he asked. Madison’s cold eyes didn’t change, “Until you tell me why you and Bart where at Happy Harbor with some freak-” Derek glared at Madison, “Neutron is not a freak! He was a test subject for the Reach, one of the first ones! You, of all people, shouldn’t be saying that!” Derek and Madison had a brief stare down. Finally Madison said, “Fine. You will stay grounded until you tell me every detail of what happened today. Now, go to your room,” she said the last sentence softly. Derek stood up, still clearly weak and tried his best to storm out of the living room, it didn’t happen. The orphans on the stairs ran up, only Greta and Cissie where left to help Derek up the stairs._

_Madison, Jayson and CJ stayed on the first floor. Madison looked at the ground with her arms crossed. Jayson walked over to her and touched her elbow to see if she was alright. CJ rolled his wheelchair closer to the two. “Okay,” he said knowing that Derek and the others where now upstairs, “What happened? You two and Damian left, not telling anyone where you went and left the twins to scavenge. Then you two come back with Derek who just looks like death, and no Bart who apparently was just taken by Beetle. And where is Damian.” CJ wasn’t asking any more he was demanding answers. Jayson quickly told him what happened, or at least what he remembered. Madison didn’t talk._

_CJ nodded finally getting what was going on, “Okay,” he said rubbing his forehead, “What are we going to do? We just can’t leave Bart out there. And if he was with another test subject we can’t leave him either.” Jayson nodded, “You’re right but we should wait for the twins and maybe Damian if he comes back tonight.” Madison’s head jerked up, she started a fast walk into the kitchen and turned to the door that led to the basement. Jayson and CJ looked at each other, “Where are you going?!” yelled Jayson. Madison didn’t answer; she came running back to the dining room and threw, what looked like, an old worn text book on the table. CJ and Jayson quickly went to the table as Madison flipped through the pages. When she stopped she pointed, “Look,” she said. The book said:_

**_Neutron AKA Nathaniel Tryon_ ** ****

**_‘Neutron was captured and locked away on February 28 th. He destroyed much of Central City before he was taken down by speedster team of Flash and Kid Flash. But not without a cost, not only did the city lose over $100,000 in repairs but the city also lost Flash that day, making Kid Flash, Flash. The source of Neutron’s powers are currently unknown but are expected to be from a science experiment gone wrong’_ **

_CJ looked over the passage, “Okay,” he said, “Now we know who this Neutron is and we know that Bart is even in more trouble.” Jayson and Madison nodded. “But now we need to figure out why the boys were out in the first place,” said Madison, “I have no idea why Derek is being so secretive. He’s acting-” “Like a Grayson,” said CJ and Jayson together. Madison was about to say something when Damian walked through the door. He walked into the dining room, “Hey Harper, Kent, Gray-” Madison interrupted him by knocking the wind out of him and pinning him up against the wall. “Coward!” she hissed at him her eyes where cold and almost deadly looking. Jayson managed to pull Madison off of Damian who was trying to catch his breath. The twins walked in. Abigail noticed that Madison was being held back by Jayson and Damian was trying to catch his breath. She shook her head, “What did Damian do?” William walked in looked at everyone and started to laugh._

_Cissie and Greta helped Derek to his room. When they got to his door Cissie and Derek went through the doorway while Greta went through the wall, and Derek’s arm that she was holding up hit the wall. Secret gave Derek an apologetic look, “Sorry.” Derek gave a little smile, “No problem, Greta.” Cissie helped Derek the rest of the way to his bed. After Derek sat down heavily on the bed Cissie and Greta stood next to each other and crossed their arms. Derek rubbed his forehead, his face getting some color back._

_“Start talking,” the girls said together. Derek quickly told them all of the details, Cissie punched him in the arm, “Ow,” he said rubbing the spot where she hit. “That was stupid,” said Cissie, “but not a bad idea. Since Bart is still able to do it. If he can fix it and get away from Beetle.” All three nodded, “So,” said Greta turning to Derek, “Why didn’t you tell your sister?” Derek looked at the ground, “I know as soon as Madison found out she would be finding the time machine and destroying it.” The kids heard the front door open and then heard something hit wall down stairs. All three kids said, “Damian’s home.”_


	6. Discovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been a few months since Impulse had rescued Blue Beetle, but the young speedster is still acting like it happened yesterday. His mind always on something other than their missions and his change in attitude begins to worry the team and the Justice League starts to notice as well. He is closing up and after almost a year of living forty years in the past, he chooses to contact home, but soon realizes that it was a big mistake. The only way to fix it is to get help from the 2056 Young Justice team, but after living under the Reach control for so long, will they risk to lose what little they have.

**February 20, 2056**  
 **Happy Harbor  
** **1:02 PM**

_Madison woke from the ground and started to get up but was pushed back down. She looked up and glared at the leader of the pack. “Hello, little Madison,” he said. Madison tried to get up again but was just pushed down, the pack laughed. Finally she stayed down and looked around; she saw Derek and Jayson next to each other, still unconscious on their backs. Madison looked at the pack leader, “Hey, how’s it going, 223?” she said a bit sarcastic. The leader looked down at the 223 tattoo on his forearm. 223 glared at Madison, “You shouldn’t be talking 200.”_

_Madison looked down at the 200 tattoo on her forearm that was surrounded with other tattoos. 223 let out a deep laugh, “You haven’t changed a bit, Grayson,” he took a step closer to Madison, as she backed up, “you always know how to get under peoples skin,” another step closer, backed up, “you always get what you want, and you don’t care who you hurt,” another step, backed up, “But now,” 223 stopped and laughed, “I’m going to put an end to all of it.” 223 shifted with ease in to a large orange and black tiger, “Get ready to say good bye.” Madison continued to back up, 223’s followers laughed and watched. Just then an arrow came and struck 223 in the side. It then sat his fur on fire, 223 jumped and shifted back to his original human form._

_Madison swung her legs around and knocked him to the ground and used enough force to put her back on her feet in one move. She looked down at the man who was now trying to cool down the burn on his side. “You may have the shifting abilities of a martin,” said Madison, “But you also have their weakness as well.” She looked over to Jayson who was now standing up and had an arrow ready, aimed at 223. Madison jumped toward him, scaring him and his followers, and sent them running. She didn’t take her eyes off of them until Jayson yelled for her, “Mads!” he yelled. Madison groaned at the nickname that she hates. “It’s your brother.” Madison quickly went over to, a still unconscious and very pale, Derek. She turned him from his side to his back and saw that blood had dried under his nose._

_Madison was now trying her best not too freak out. She shook his gently, “C’mon Derek. Wake up.” Jayson stood back and watched, knowing that Madison might rip off heads if they came close to Derek. Derek finally cracked an eye open, Madison smiled in relief. “My head hurts,” he said. Madison nodded, “Try and get some sleep, we will get you home,” she said. Derek nodded and closed his eyes. “Jay,” said Madison. Jayson went over and, with the help of Madison, put Derek on his back; he hung there like a rag doll._

_It only took a half a mile before Derek manage to fall asleep on Jayson’s back. “You know,” said Jayson softly, Madison looked up from the ash covered ground, “We need to find some real help for Derek-” Madison cut him off, “I know. But it’s not like we can just go to the nearest hospital and have him treated for anemia.” And then her voice got really low, “We are running majorly low on iron pills and shots. Our supply won’t last the year. Then neither will-” She stopped. Jayson looked at Madison; a bit shocked she would say that but knew it was true. While CJ, Derek, Jayson and Madison where planning to get out of the testing facility, Madison managed to steal some medicine to help Derek, but over the ten years of surviving on scraps, the supply was running low, not enough to last the year._

_After a few more feet of silence, “Why where the boys out here in the first place?” asked Jayson as he stopped and turn to look back. Madison looked back as well but saw nothing. “I have no idea. But now we have lost Bart, and Derek was almost killed.” She sighed and started to walk away from what used to be Mount Justice. Derek managed to open his eyes and still saw the time machine, he cracked a smile and went back to sleep. Jayson shrugged and trotted to catch up with Madison._

_It was uncomfortable silence as the three made their way back to Gotham, Madison broke the silence, “I swore to myself that I would keep any orphan safe,” she said. Jayson looked over to her, “There was nothing you could do Mads,” Madison interrupted, “What did I say-,” Jayson shook his head, and readjusted Derek on his back, “Just listen,” Madison kept quiet and looked at the ground, “We lost one. And yes Will and Abbie won’t be too happy about it but there was absolutely nothing we could do._

_We can try to get him out of slavery but we probably will get caught. And then there would be no one to take care of the Village.” Jayson paused, “And don’t go and try to go after him by yourself,” Madison looked up from the ground, “if you die or get caught, the orphans have lost hope like the rest of us.” She sighed and then nodded, “Though I don’t want to admit it: your right, Jay.” Jayson smiled, “What did you say? I think I had something in my ear.” Madison laughed, “Don’t push it Harper.” Jayson gave Madison a little push, and Madison did the same back. Now that Jayson and Madison started to talk, the time and the distance went a lot faster than it would have been if they stayed in the silence._

_Soon, they were going through Gotham. They made their way between over turned cars, light poles that fell, broken glass shards from the buildings high above their heads, torn up pavement and cement from the road, and trash that people collect to warm their shelters. The buildings around them didn’t have any windows, or if they did they were covered up by wooden boards. Madison and Jayson finally got to the Village._

_The Village was all of the buildings on the outskirt of Gotham. It was the only place that had electricity, and working pluming. The electricity was only used at night and during the winter for heat, otherwise it was shut off. Also the perimeter of the Village was a brick wall. It was clearly just built. Along the top of the wall was barbed wire. There was only an open area which served as the only way in and out of the little area. When Earth wasn’t being run by Beetle, the Village was just a run down, bad part of the city where almost nobody came._

_The teens made their way through the Village to get to the old apartment building farthest away from the entrance. Madison climbed up the crude made wooden stairs and quickly opened the door. Jayson went inside and went into the living and put Derek on the couch. CJ was at the table like he usually was. He looked up and rolled back and then rolled to the living room part of the connected room. “What happened?” he asked. Madison ignored CJ and went to Derek, she woke him and told him to stay awake and she ran out of the room. Greta and Cissie along with a few others sat on the stairs and watched between the railing bars._

_Jayson stood by CJ, “I don’t really know. All I know is that Derek and Bart where in Happy Harbor, with someone else, and Beetle was there,” CJ stayed quiet, “Bart was taken. Damian is somewhere and Derek got knocked out from one of his sound wave cannons and it triggered a seizure. Where are the twins?” Derek was sitting on the couch with his legs stretched out. He was looking at his hands, the blood still dried under his nose. His head kept drooping and popping up as he tried to stay awake._

_“The twins went out hunting and scavenging. You know yours and Maddi’s job. They should be back soon,” said CJ. Jayson nodded. Madison ran back into the room and kneeled by Derek’s side, “Stay still,” she ordered, Derek did just that as Madison poked his arm with a needle. Derek winced; he was never a big fan of needles. “There,” she said taking a washcloth and cleaning up the blood. Derek jerked away and snatched the washcloth out of her hand. She smiled, “I’m glad you’re feeling better,” she said standing up. Derek wiped his face with the wash cloth and handed back to his sister._

_Madison put the needle in the washcloth and put it down on a side table, “Now, do you care to explain?” she asked crossing her arms. The orphans on the stairs have double and they were piled on top of each other trying to watch. Derek looked up at Madison and shook his head, “I don’t want to,” he mumbled. Madison sighed, “Fine. Go upstairs and sleep. Tomorrow I expect you to tell me the whole story. Or,” she paused for effect just to humor the ones on the stairs, “you will be grounded, to the Village. You won’t be able to go and play outside of the borders.” Her voice was commanding. Jayson and CJ looked shocked, Madison has done some terrible stuff in her nineteen years of living but has never done anything back to any family member, and she hasn’t even punished Derek before but times where changing. Everyone knew something big was going to happen._

_Derek looked up shocked at his big sister, “For how long?” he asked. Madison’s cold eyes didn’t change, “Until you tell me why you and Bart where at Happy Harbor with some freak-” Derek glared at Madison, “Neutron is not a freak! He was a test subject for the Reach, one of the first ones! You, of all people, shouldn’t be saying that!” Derek and Madison had a brief stare down. Finally Madison said, “Fine. You will stay grounded until you tell me every detail of what happened today. Now, go to your room,” she said the last sentence softly. Derek stood up, still clearly weak and tried his best to storm out of the living room, it didn’t happen. The orphans on the stairs ran up, only Greta and Cissie where left to help Derek up the stairs._

_Madison, Jayson and CJ stayed on the first floor. Madison looked at the ground with her arms crossed. Jayson walked over to her and touched her elbow to see if she was alright. CJ rolled his wheelchair closer to the two. “Okay,” he said knowing that Derek and the others where now upstairs, “What happened? You two and Damian left, not telling anyone where you went and left the twins to scavenge. Then you two come back with Derek who just looks like death, and no Bart who apparently was just taken by Beetle. And where is Damian.” CJ wasn’t asking any more he was demanding answers. Jayson quickly told him what happened, or at least what he remembered. Madison didn’t talk._

_CJ nodded finally getting what was going on, “Okay,” he said rubbing his forehead, “What are we going to do? We just can’t leave Bart out there. And if he was with another test subject we can’t leave him either.” Jayson nodded, “You’re right but we should wait for the twins and maybe Damian if he comes back tonight.” Madison’s head jerked up, she started a fast walk into the kitchen and turned to the door that led to the basement. Jayson and CJ looked at each other, “Where are you going?!” yelled Jayson. Madison didn’t answer; she came running back to the dining room and threw, what looked like, an old worn text book on the table. CJ and Jayson quickly went to the table as Madison flipped through the pages. When she stopped she pointed, “Look,” she said. The book said:_

**_Neutron AKA Nathaniel Tryon._ **

**_‘Neutron was captured and locked away on February 28 th. He destroyed much of Central City before he was taken down by speedster team of Flash and Kid Flash. But not without a cost, not only did the city lose over $100,000 in repairs but the city also lost Flash that day, making Kid Flash, Flash. The source of Neutron’s powers are currently unknown but are expected to be from a science experiment gone wrong’_ **

_CJ looked over the passage, “Okay,” he said, “Now we know who this Neutron is and we know that Bart is even in more trouble.” Jayson and Madison nodded. “But now we need to figure out why the boys were out in the first place,” said Madison, “I have no idea why Derek is being so secretive. He’s acting-” “Like a Grayson,” said CJ and Jayson together. Madison was about to say something when Damian walked through the door. He walked into the dining room, “Hey Harper, Kent, Gray-” Madison interrupted him by knocking the wind out of him and pinning him up against the wall. “Coward!” she hissed at him her eyes where cold and almost deadly looking. Jayson managed to pull Madison off of Damian who was trying to catch his breath. The twins walked in. Abigail noticed that Madison was being held back by Jayson and Damian was trying to catch his breath. She shook her head, “What did Damian do?” William walked in looked at everyone and started to laugh._

_Cissie and Greta helped Derek to his room. When they got to his door Cissie and Derek went through the doorway while Greta went through the wall, and Derek’s arm that she was holding up hit the wall. Secret gave Derek an apologetic look, “Sorry.” Derek gave a little smile, “No problem, Greta.” Cissie helped Derek the rest of the way to his bed. After Derek sat down heavily on the bed Cissie and Greta stood next to each other and crossed their arms. Derek rubbed his forehead, his face getting some color back._

_“Start talking,” the girls said together. Derek quickly told them all of the details, Cissie punched him in the arm, “Ow,” he said rubbing the spot where she hit. “That was stupid,” said Cissie, “but not a bad idea. Since Bart is still able to do it. If he can fix it and get away from Beetle.” All three nodded, “So,” said Greta turning to Derek, “Why didn’t you tell your sister?” Derek looked at the ground, “I know as soon as Madison found out she would be finding the time machine and destroying it.” The kids heard the front door open and then heard something hit wall down stairs. All three kids said, “Damian’s home.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations:  
> Te iubesc, frățioare. Pe curând: {I love you, little brother. See you soon.}  
> Eu voi fi bine, promit: {I'll be fine, I promise}  
> Stai sora: {Wait sister}  
> Știu că familia noastră a avut o istorie de secrete și eu nu sunt o să vorbească: {I know that our family had a history of secrets and I'm not one to talk}  
> Noroc, frățioare: {Good luck, little brother}


	7. The Start of the War: 2056

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been a few months since Impulse had rescued Blue Beetle, but the young speedster is still acting like it happened yesterday. His mind always on something other than their missions and his change in attitude begins to worry the team and the Justice League starts to notice as well. He is closing up and after almost a year of living forty years in the past, he chooses to contact home, but soon realizes that it was a big mistake. The only way to fix it is to get help from the 2056 Young Justice team, but after living under the Reach control for so long, will they risk to lose what little they have.

**December 22, 2056  
** **Gotham City  
** **6:34 PM**

_“Well?” asked Damian as he watched Madison climb up and down broken buildings, dodging rocks that where being flung at her. He sat on the hood of an old car; it no longer had wheels, windows and doors. There was a mangy looking dog sitting next to him with a dark blue handkerchief around his neck. It was a short haired black Labrador, his head would move the same direction as Damian’s as they both watched. Jayson stood on a trailer that flipped over on its side, he had a pile of small rocks by his side and he was shooting them at Madison with his bow. Madison stood still and, in one solid motion, she caught the rock and threw it back at Jayson, hitting the bow, startling the archer. “Well,” said Madison standing up straight, “everything is going exactly as planned.” Jayson had gone back to flinging rocks at Madison, she effortlessly dodged them “Bart had finally got home sick and decided to call home. Derek answered. They caught up. All the while, Beetle had his team of_ scientists _tracing any form of Zeta beam radiation. And if you are right about them being able to trace it successfully-”_

 _Jayson grabbed five rocks and hurled them at the blue eyed girl; she stopped and caught them all. Jayson spoke after Madison caught the rocks, “Then Beetle should be able to follow the signal, like a cell phone connection. And that is all he needs to-” Damian finished for Jayson, “go back in time.” Madison threw the rocks on the ground. Jayson jumped from the trailer and walked over to where Damian and the dog were. Madison looked up to the two boys, “I have my-_ colleagues- _on standby. And ready to fight.” Damian nodded, “Good. The more people we get the better.” Jayson looked to Madison, giving her a look that said ‘we need to talk, in private’. Madison nodded and looked to Damian, “You should get back to Beetle’s_ sanctuary _. Keep me in the loop and see when they plan to activate_ their _mission.”_

_Damian hopped up the dog started to follow, “We’ll see. Titus, stay. Go home with Grayson and Harper,” and with that he disappeared into the shadows. Titus stayed and just looked where his owner had disappeared. Madison turned to Jayson, “Don’t worry. Everything will be fine-” Jayson stopped her, “I don’t know how you do it Mads,” Madison glared at him, “Don’t call me ‘Mads’” she hissed through her teeth. Jayson ignored her, “I don’t know how you can just keep lying to people’s faces like this. I mean, I can understand the twins, most of the orphans, and anyone else. But to CJ? Derek? Even-” he paused as though he lost his train of thought, “Greta and Cissie and Bart. You’ve known them their entire lives and yet-” Madison put her hand up, “Stop. J-just stop,” she said her voice a bit shaky, “I’m lying to them so that they can be happy in the end. You’ll see, I’ve got every little thing planned out. It’s going to work. Come on Titus.” Jayson sighed, “I trust you Mads.” Madison just sent a glare at him and didn’t even try to correct him. The black lab got up and followed the two._

**December 23, 2056  
** **the Village**  
11:46 AM

 _“Ugh, I’m so bored!” yelled Cissie as she hung over the side of the couch. Titus looked up to the small archer form his spot on the ground. “Well,” said Greta as she floated in the air reading a book, “Grab a book and start reading. It took us all morning to lug the boxes from the basement. And you didn’t even touch a book yet.” “Hey!,” yelled Cissie, “I read through that_ Twilight _series! And I like Edward better.” Derek looked up from his book, he was sitting on the other side of the couch from Cissie, “Yeah,” he said, “Then read another. I suggest another vampire book. Or even a classic book. Everyone is reading,” he motioned to the floor that had three other kids reading books. He then motioned to the recliners where two more kids sat, then to the dining room table where four more kids sat. Every once in a while, a kid or two will come from another room or from upstairs to replace the book that they just got done reading. “Enjoy this luxury that we will never have again,” he finished._

 _Cissie looked around and rolled so she was sitting up straight, “I’m not a big fan of reading. The only reason I read_ Twilight _is because Greta would shut her trap about it. And I just want to got outside and get some exercise,” she said as she looked toward the front door.  “No!” yelled Abigail from the other room. The blonde haired, green eyed girl came into the dining room area through the door way that connected the area to the kitchen. She was holding a medium size bowl and stirring something inside. Titus got up and sat at Abigail’s feet, “You guys know that when it snows nobody is allowed outside,” she said as she continued to stir. Cissie jumped up, “But it’s just snow. You guys said that you played in it when you were little-” Abigail shook her head, “That was before the atmosphere was layered with toxic chemicals that mix with any type precipitation, causing things like acid rain. Or in this acid snow.” Derek looked at Abigail, “That sounds so crash! Well, the name anyway,” he said._

_Abigail rolled her eyes and headed into the kitchen, Titus didn’t hesitate and followed. Cissie jumped up, “C’mon you two,” she said heading into the kitchen. Derek sighed and put the book down on the sofa. Greta just dropped hers on the floor. The three went to the kitchen island that sat in the middle of the small kitchen and hopped up on the wooden logs that served as bar stools. Abigail had started to pour the liquid she was mixing onto three cookie sheets. Madison was also in the kitchen, she was at the island chopping up some vegetables. Titus has switched from Abigail to Madison. Her hair was tied back into a low ponytail. “Where did you get those?” asked Derek as Greta and Cissie drooled over them. Madison didn’t take her eyes off the knife as she cut them up, “I know someone,” Derek didn’t miss a beat, “Poison Ivy?” Madison matched Derek’s speed, “No.”_

_“Yes,” he said just as fast. “Maybe” she said finally giving up. Derek smiled and took a piece of the yellow carrot she was chopping. Madison slapped his hand, the piece of carrot went to the edge of the counter, Titus jumped up and grabbed the small piece of carrot and sat back down on the ground, “It’s for the soup,” she said pointing over to the stove that had two huge pots in it, both with covers on top. Abigail had finished with the cookie sheets and put the pan down, “Yeah,” she said wiping sweat off of her forehead, “We are making soup for everyone here at the Village. And since Christmas is almost here, I made everyone’s favorite: rock candy.” She pointed to the cookie sheets. Madison had taken the carrot’s she chopped and evenly separated them to the pots. “The soup should be done by noon. So the boys should be home at noon,” Madison said. Abigail laughed, “The rock candy should be done by Christmas Eve.”_

_CJ came into the kitchen, “How are my two favorite girls doing?” he asked looking at the big pots of soup. Abigail smiled and Madison rolled her eyes, “The soup is doing well. It should be done-” William super sped into the kitchen and slid to a stop, he was out of breath. A couple seconds later Jayson ran in, he too was out of breath. Titus barked at the two. William got hold of his breath the fastest, “Beetle has summoned everyone to the central part of Gotham,” he looked to Derek, Cissie, and Greta, “and I mean everyone.” Madison looked at CJ, “Grab the Shields, we might need them. Along with coms as well. I have a feeling we might need them.” CJ sighed, not really wanting to get the Sheilds, and went to his room. Abigail took the pots of soup off of the stove, “Okay!” yelled Madison, “Everyone, we are heading into Gotham’s city park. Find a blanket or something to keep you warm.”_

_As the kids filed out of the building, they merged with the rest of the people from the Village. Most of the kids stayed by the six teens that they felt safe next to. Jayson and Madison walked together. The black lab didn’t leave Madison’s side “Do you have any idea what this is about?” he asked, making sure nobody else heard. Madison just looked at Jayson, “Yes. And so do you, but keep playing dumb,” she said keeping her voice low. Jayson nodded. By the time they got to the center of Gotham, there were at least a hundred people there, and after twenty minutes, people stopping coming. Jayson and Madison managed to stay together with Cissie, Greta, Derek, and two other kids. CJ, William, Abigail, and the rest of the kids where spared out around the big group. There were at least 200 people in the little area, which was more than anyone thought were still alive and roaming around freely._

_Madison’s little group managed to make their way toward the front but couldn’t get to the stage area, where Beetle, Damian, the Reach Ambassador, and a few of their, successful, test subjects stood. Jayson’s and Madison’s coms came to life_ “What do you think this is about?” _asked Abigail over the com._ “I don’t know,” _replied Madison,_ “But stay whelmed, we might need to fight our way out of this” _Madison threw an arm over Derek’s shoulder. Derek just kept his eyes up on the stage. The Reach Ambassador cleared his throat and stepped forward. Everyone went quiet. “Welcome,” said the Ambassador, “I know that our ‘promises’ forty years ago didn’t, how you say, live up to your expectations. But fear not, our team of experts have developed a way to fix everything-” Someone interrupted him; “We don’t want anything from you! Or the Reach!” Everyone yelled in agreement.  “Silence!” yelled Beetle. Everyone went quiet._

_The Ambassador nodded toward Beetle and continued, “We have developed a way to,” he paused, “make things the way they were supposed to be.” The group murmured on what he could have really meant. Damian chuckled, “Don’t sugar coat it Ambassador. They will find out the truth soon enough.” The Ambassador nodded, “You are right Mr. Wayne,” he looked toward the group, “We have developed a way to go back into time,” the group started to buzz with disapproval, “Blue Beetle, Mr. Wayne, prepare the device to go back into time forty years ago; 2016.” The group was now surrounded by the group of shape shifters, led by 223._

_Madison pushed Derek back a little bit, Jayson did the same to Cissie, and Greta just followed the two. The two older ones forced their way toward the front, along with the large dog. Derek tried to follow but was just pushed back by the crowd of people. The three stayed back with the other kids who didn’t lose their way. Damian and Beetle uncovered a small podium with a panel on the top. “No,” yelled Madison as she tried to get to the stage to stop the process, Jayson was right next to her and Titus barked. Beetle jumped down, causing the unstable ground to shake. “Remember the contract,” said Beetle, which caused Jayson and Madison to stop in their tracks, Titus growled but didn’t do anything other than that. “You even try to attack, or even change into your sidekick costumes,” he laughed, “well, you know what happened to the heroes that you once worshipped.”_

_Beetle let out another laugh, “And you know what happened when Red Arrow, Nightingale, and Superboy tried to call my bluff. Or should I call you by your real names, Jayson, Madison, and Conner Junior?” Jayson and Madison looked at each other, “How is the half Kryptonian and half, well, he’s not a whole any more now is he?” The archer and gymnast backed up into the group once again, along with the dog that didn’t stop growling. Beetle laughed.  “Well, now what?” asked Jayson. Madison sighed and turned on her com,_ “Everyone, get ready to run,” _she looked at Jayson,_ “when we get to 2016.” _William spoke over the com,_ “Are you sure there is nothing we can do? I mean, I know we are bound by the contract to not fight as our hero names but-” _Abigail interrupted her twin,_ “Both Maddi and Damian looked over the contact, there was no loop holes.” _Madison nodded even though only Jayson could see._

 _After a moment of silence William spoke again,_ “Then can somebody tell me who’s on whose side? Because it looks like Damian is on Beetle’s side.” _Nobody said anything and just looked up at Damian who was pushing buttons on the podium. CJ spoke next,_ “I have known Damian, since he and Maddi rescued me from Cadmus. Damian is on our side, he’s just a mole on Beetle’s side.” _There was a slight pause and Madison spoke,_ “And what does it matter who’s on whose side. Us, the heroes, are fighting alongside our arch enemies from before the apocalypse.  We just need all the help we can get.” _Nobody spoke after that, knowing it was true. Damian looked at the Ambassador, “Connection has been made,” he said. He looked down to Madison and Jayson._

 _Blue lightning started to strike, the clouds above started to swirl. Everyone covered their eyes as the wind blew._ When everyone opened their eyes, there was sunlight. It took a minute for Madison and Jayson to gather what had gone on. The group looked up at the stage, that now had, not only everyone who was standing on the stage before the time machine when off, but now it also had Black Beetle, another Ambassador, Tigress, Aqualad, Psimon, Queen Bee and G. Gordon Godfrey. Tigress was damasked and her face was now Artemis’s, she was on her knee’s with her hands tied behind her back, with Aqualad next to her with his hands tied behind his back as well. The group from the future looked around at the people who were from this section of time. Titus barked at the stage, wanting to be by his owner.

Godfrey didn’t waste any time to get to someone from the future, as he asked questions nobody answers; they just looked to Madison and Jayson. Eventually Godfrey got the idea and when to the black haired girl and red haired boy, “Okay,” said the reporter, “You two seem to be the elected people to talk, now,” he cleared his throat and signaled the camera to focus in on the two, he held the microphone between the two, “Tell me, your names and the world how great the future is with the help of the Reach.” Madison and Jayson looked at each other. Madison looked up to the stage, “This wasn’t in the contract,” she whispered to Jayson.

Godfrey started to get a bit annoyed, “Speak up girl. Tell the entire world-” Titus growled and barked at the reported. Madison straightens up and silences the dog by grabbing the handkerchief. Jayson was the one to speak, “This _girl_ is Madison Grayson. I’m Jayson Harper.” Madison now spoke, “And the _fabulous_ future you are referring to doesn’t exist.” There was a huge gasp from the crowd, Godfrey let out a laugh, “So it’s even better-” “No!” yelled everyone from the future. Finally everyone got what was going on.  Madison activated her com, _“Abbie, Will, you two have a new mission. Save your mom and Aqualad.”_ The camera’s looked up to the group on the stage. Both of the Ambassador’s came forward and said at the same time, “Meet your new dictator from the future; Blue Beetle. Earth is now under our control.” Titus started to bark and pull, trying to get to Damian on the stage.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been a few months since Impulse had rescued Blue Beetle, but the young speedster is still acting like it happened yesterday. His mind always on something other than their missions and his change in attitude begins to worry the team and the Justice League starts to notice as well. He is closing up and after almost a year of living forty years in the past, he chooses to contact home, but soon realizes that it was a big mistake. The only way to fix it is to get help from the 2056 Young Justice team, but after living under the Reach control for so long, will they risk to lose what little they have.

**December 22, 2016  
** **Central City  
** **6:34 PM**

Bart looked out the passenger window of Wally’s truck; he had a death grip on his winter jacket as he watched the snow fall. Usually the two speedsters would just run everywhere but Wally had planned to stay at his parents for the rest of winter break, and the weather wasn’t allowing him to run, without slipping. It was pretty quiet the whole way there and it disturbed the older red head, “So,” said Wally, “How did you celebrate holidays in the future?” Bart straightened up, “We couldn't really celebrate anything, but at home we secertly celebrated Christmas with our neighbors,” Bart’s face lit up; “Maddi would go to Ivy and get some vegetables. She tried to keep that a secret, the fact that she got our food from people they used to fight but Derek can always get the truth out of her. Then she would make loads of soup, along with Abbie, which we would share with the whole Village. Then Jay and Will would go out to see if they could find anymore survivors or animals that we could eat,” he paused, “Animals we would eat. Not the survivors.” Bart was now acting like how he first came here and not depressed like he was the last couple of days. He pulled out a picture from his pocket.

The youngest speedster continued to talk while looking at the picture, “Then Abbie would make rock candy from any sugar we grew. It was the only junk food we actually ate. While the older ones did that, us kids, when it wasn’t snowing, we would go out into the street and play any game we could think of. But when it did snow, some of us would help in the kitchen, the rest of us would play inside games or we would find books and read them. We didn’t have many books. But Maddi said that she had a ton, she just needed to get them out of the basement. She wouldn’t let us go down there, I don’t really know why, but we didn’t really care. We just thought it was fun trying to sneak down there when Maddi or anyone wasn’t watching. It was the only time of the year that everything was crash.” It seemed like Bart didn’t take a breath through the whole thing.  Wally let out a small chuckle, “Well, Christmas here is a bit different. And you will have to show me that picture when we get to Mom and Dad’s,” he said.

Wally turned down a road that was lined with houses. Bart slid the picture carefully back into his pocket, and looked out the window, the houses that were lit up, and had plastic reindeer with a plastic Santa in the front yard, along with inflatable figures. In a couple of the houses, the front window was open and Bart could see the Christmas trees. There were also a couple kids outside playing in the snow, “Yeah, no kidding,” he mumbled. Wally tuned into his parent’s driveway. Wally had gotten out and grabbed his bag from the car. By the time Wally turned around, Bart was already at the front door. “What’s the rush?” asked Wally as he locked the doors to the truck and walked to the front door. “Um,” said Bart, “Back in my time, we weren’t allowed to play in the snow. Or even be outside-” Bart trailed off. Wally gave him a look, “Then let’s get inside,” Wally opened the door; a gust of warm air hit the two in the face.

Later that night, Bart sat on the floor of the West’s guest room; the picture was lying on the ground in front of him. He glanced up, from the picture, to the digital clock on the side table, the green numbers flashed, the ten changed to an eleven, and the five and nine turned to zeros. There was a light knock at the door that made Bart jump. “Come in,” he said quietly knowing it was Wally and guessing his parents where sleeping, his eyes moving back toward the picture on the ground. Wally walked in, and quietly shut the door. “Hey,” whispered Bart, he didn’t take his eyes off the picture. “Hey,” responded Wally as he walked in front of Bart and sat down. The youngest speedster pointed to the far right of the picture. It was Bart with his arm around a young girl about the same age as him, maybe a few years younger.

She had dark skin and brown hair. She also wore a light colored pair of jeans with a light purple shirt. The girl’s other arm was around a black haired boy with blue eyes and very pale skin. He wore a red sweat shirt with a pair of dark colored jeans. Bart’s other arm was around a blonde haired girl with blue eyes, who wore a red v neck shirt and a white ruffled skirt. Bart wore a grey t-shirt and a pair of black cargo pants. All of the kids had huge smiles on their faces. “The girl with the purple shirt is my cousin, Jenni. Next to Jenni is Derek, you know, Grayson,” Wally nodded and encouraged him to continue to talk, “The girl with the red shirt is Cissie. And this,” Bart moved his hand to a blurred out spot across their feet, making them un-see able. “That’s Greta. She’s a ghost.” Wally looked confused at the picture, “That’s impossible. Ghost don’t exist, it’s a proven fact. Just because there is a blur on a pictu-”

Bart looked up and cut his cousin once removed off, “You haven’t met Greta. She’s a real ghost,” Bart aggressively pointed to the older teens in the picture. “Maddi, Jay, CJ, Will and Damian all said she’s real. Everyone in the Village sees her. She helps guides souls to the other side. Heck, she was even part of Young Justice!” Bart’s voice was raising but Wally shushed him quickly. Wally looked down to the picture. The five teens sat on some rubble from a nearby building. Madison, the black haired girl with ice blue eyes and pale skin, a bit darker than Derek’s, wore a dark blue tank top and a worn, brown leather jacket, along with a pair of dark jeans and dark blue converses that matched her tank top, her hair was tied in a low pony tail. She had her back toward the kids and was clearly laughing at something Jayson had said.

Jayson had dark red hair, almost brown. He had grey eyes and looked a lot like Roy. He was wearing black sweat shirt with a red triangle on the shoulder, and a pair of black pants and dark red tennis shoes. The look that Madison and Jayson gave each other was clear. “Are they...?” started Wally. Bart shook his head sadly, “Not yet, but Derek, Cissie, Greta, and I are working on getting them together.” Bart paused, “That is the only thing that stays the same everyday. Us teasing them. Like families do.” Wally pointed to two more black haired boys who both looked annoyed with something. “That’s CJ and Damian. Or Superboy and Batman, whatever you like to call them.” CJ was sitting on the ground, in front of the rubble. He had a smile on his face, even though he was clearly annoyed with something. Damian was just glaring at a rock on the ground and looked like he was about to kick it.

The Bart pointed to a red head with green eyes, who was standing behind the rubble saying something to Damian and CJ. “That’s Will,” he said then pointing to a girl with blonde hair and green eyes. She had one hand to the side of her mouth, so that the others wouldn’t see as she looked like she was giving instructions to the person behind the camera, “That is Abbie.” William was wearing an old orange t-shirt, while Abigail was wearing a green sweater and black skinny jeans. Wally looked at his future kids, “They look about the same age,” he said.

“They're twins” said Bart and before Wally had a chance to say anything Bart continued, “This picture was taken when Jay, Will, Abbie, and I met up with everyone in Gotham. It was also the day that we started the Village. Taking in as many people as possible and trying to survive.” Wally could tell that it was getting hard to talk about this. He guessed it was probably one of the few memories that were good for him. Wally stood up, “We should get some sleep. Nightwing and a few others would like to talk to us tomorrow.” Wally started for the door and opened it quietly; he turned and saw that Bart had not moved. He sighed and went out in the hall, closing the door quietly behind him.

 **December 23, 2016  
** **Taos  
** **11:46 AM**

The conference room in the newly repaired Star Labs had many people from the League, including Batman, Black Canary, Green Arrow, Wonder Woman, and Superman. Among them were a few others, Kid Flash, Nightwing, Impulse and Red Arrow. The only ones that were in civvies were Wally (Kid Flash), Bart (Impulse), Roy (Red Arrow), Oliver (Green Arrow), and Dinah (Black Canary). Everyone sat down at the long table in the middle of the room. Everyone turned to Bart, who sat next to Wally. Dinah leaned forward on her elbows, “Okay. We all know why you _really_ came here-” Bart looked at the ground, “Kid Mouth,” he mumbled only loud enough for Wally, Roy and Nightwing to hear. Roy and Nightwing sent a smile toward Kid Flash, it was clear they were trying to hold in their laughter. Batman looked at Nightwing and Roy, who right away stopped laughing but where still smirking.

Bart continued to looked at the ground, “Bart, don’t lock up on us,” said Dinah, “We would just like to help-” The speedster looked up from the ground, “Help? Everyone would like to help. But no one can. Not even the heroes that did survive-” Everyone in the back was now deathly silent, “What do you mean?” asked Black Canary. Bart looked up from the ground and around the table, “Right after everyone from the Justice League was-” Bart didn’t finish the sentence and just moved on, “Everyone who was left, the sidekicks, partners, whatever you like to call them; Red Arrow, Superboy, Nightingale, Batman, Green Arrow, Kid Flash, and a few others, where forced to sign some sort of contract,” Bart leaned back in his chair and looked at the table, “The contract basically said that if anyone even changed into their uniforms, they would be killed on the spot. If they attacked, and they weren’t in uniform, they would be injured. If they did it again, they would be killed.”

Bart went quiet. The looks on everyone’s face was the same; even Batman had a look of shock on his face for a few seconds. Batman was the first to speak, “Okay, how do you know he wasn’t bluffing?” Bart tensed up a bit, his hand moved to the pocket that had the picture in it, and he was looking at the front of the desk, “Red Arrow, Superboy, and Nightingale tried to call his bluff, but just to be safe, they attacked without their uniforms,” Bart took a deep breath, “They all felt the mode but Superboy felt it more, I guess Nightingale felt more guilt than anything.”  Bart stopped talking, and turned around to look at everyone at the table again. Superman now spoke, “What happened?” Bart sighed, “I didn’t know how powerful Beetle was until that day, when he paralyzed Superboy.” Everyone was taken aback by what he said. “I mean, he was half Kryptoniantook missiles, bullets, you name it, and he had taken it at point blank range. And yet, it was so easy-” Still, nobody knew what to say, “Red Arrow and Nightingale took a pretty good beating but they where crash compared to Superboy.”

There was a light knock on the door. Nightwing went over and went outside of the room and shut the door again. Roy looked at Bart, “Who is Red Arrow?” he asked. Everyone but Batman looked over at him. The archer shrugged, “I just want to know. It’s not like I’m the only one wanting to know. Wally probably wants to know who is Kid Flash, Batman probably wants to know who the future Batman is, and I want to know who the future Red Arrow is.” Oliver nodded, “And I would like to know who the future Green Arrow is but that doesn’t mean that I should find out.” Wally rubbed the back of his head; “I already know who the future Kid Flash is,” Roy sent a glare toward his friend. Bart he looked up and to Roy, “His name is Jayson, he has reddish hair. Actually he looks a lot like you,” he said sliding the picture back into his pocket. Roy thought for a moment, “I like that name: Jayson. Wait, is he my son?” he asked. Bart looked to the ground and didn’t say anything.

Roy was about to press the issue but Nightwing came back into the room, “Everyone has to come out here and see this,” he turned around and walked out. Everyone followed. Nightwing lead everyone into a room with a TV going. Superboy, Miss Martian, Batgirl, Wondergirl, Zatanna, and Rocket where all there. “What’s going on?” asked Batman. Bart stayed behind everyone while they crowded around the TV. Batgirl answered, “The Reach Ambassador is making a speech in the middle of Gotham.”  On the screen Godfrey was making some outrageous points about the League but everyone was focused on the people on the stage; the Reach Ambassador, Black Beetle, Black Manta, Aqualad, Tigress, and Queen Bee. Wally, M’gann, and Conner looked at Nightwing when they saw Aqualad and Tirgress.

The Reach Ambassador stepped up to the microphone and cleared his throat. The crowd went silent, “The Reach thanks you for letting us stay here. In return we-” Psimon came up on the stage. Tigress and Aqualad got noticeably nervous. Queen Bee and him talked, the crowd started to murmur. Queen Bee turned to Tigress and Aqualad, “Black Manta, I hate to be the one to tell you that your son and his most _trusted team mate_ are traitors.” Black Manta took off his helmet, “How dare you call my son a traitor!” he yelled back at her. “Psimon. Show him,” said Queen Bee. Psimon stepped forward, everyone froze. Black Manta was the first one to move, “Don’t move son, and Tigress, or should I call you by your real name, Artemis.” Before Tigress and Aqualad could do anything, Black Beetle knocked them down to the ground and handcuffed their hands.

He then ripped off Tigress’s mask and necklace. “Black Beetle. After the speech, you can decide what to do with them,” said Manta. Artemis and Kaldur looked at each other trying to figure out a way to get out. The crowd didn’t know what was going on but before people could start asking questions the Ambassador started to talk again. “Now, the Reach thanks you for letting us stay here. In return we promise you a great future,” the Ambassador looked to Black Beetle, “Blue Beetle was just one of the few from the Justice League that had welcomed us with open arms. And for that we thank him. We would thank him in person but he had other plans today and could not make it.” The Ambassador looked back out to the crowd.

Bart looked up to the TV, as the crowd on the television clapped, and then looked to the ground. Batgirl, Wondergirl, and Rocket started to murmur something to each other. M’gann, Conner, Wally and Zatanna went over to Nightwing. “Isn’t that the charm you asked me to make?” whispered Zatanna with her hands on her hips. Before he could reply Wally said quietly, “Yes it was. Now how are you getting my girlfriend out of there?” M’gann and Conner didn’t say anything. The Martian kept a worried glace at the TV while Conner kept sending glares at Nightwing.

The Ambassador looked around once more, _“And to prove that we will give you the brightest future that we possible can, our team of scientists have been working on a time machine.”_ The crowd started to murmur again. Bart got up and pushed aside everyone to get closer to the TV. _“Black Beetle. Are we ready to show the world was we are changing everything for?”_ Black Beetle nodded. Blue lightning flashed across the sky. “No,” said Bart. The TV screen went black for a moment and then turned back on. “Their here. All of them,” he said. Everyone was speechless. Godfrey and the camera man moved quickly to the giant group and started to talk to people, “I can’t believe it. They actually brought them here,” as the reporter moved through the people closest to the front Bart said their names, “Alex, Ben, Penny, Ken…” Godfrey then got to Madison and Jayson. “It’s Maddi and Jay. Even Titus.”  Bart was staring in disbelief.

 _“Okay,” said the reporter, “You two seem to be the elected people to talk, now,” he held the microphone between the two, “Tell me, your names and the world how great the future is with the help of the Reach.” Madison and Jayson looked at each other. Madison looked up to the stage, and whispered something to Jayson beside her. Godfrey started to get a bit annoyed, “Speak up girl. Tell the entire world-” Titus growled and barked at the reported. Madison straightens up and silences the dog by grabbing the handkerchief. Bart chuckled at what the dog had done. The red head was the one to speak, “This_ girl _is Madison Grayson. I’m Jayson Harper.”_

 _Madison now spoke, “And the_ fabulous _future you are referring to doesn’t exist.”_ The heroes in the small room looked around at each other. _“So it’s even better-” “No!”_ yelled everyone from the future, even Bart who wasn’t even there. Finally everyone got what was going on.  Bart saw Madison activate her com but couldn’t tell what she was saying. He then turned and ran as fast as he could. “Hey!” yelled Nightwing at Bart. “Wally you need to follow him.” Wally nodded and quickly followed. Everyone in the room was still speechless. _Both of the Ambassador’s came forward and said at the same time, “Meet your new dictator from the future; Blue Beetle. Earth is now under our control.”_ On the television a dog was heard barking, clearly in distress.


	9. It Only Ends In Pain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been a few months since Impulse had rescued Blue Beetle, but the young speedster is still acting like it happened yesterday. His mind always on something other than their missions and his change in attitude begins to worry the team and the Justice League starts to notice as well. He is closing up and after almost a year of living forty years in the past, he chooses to contact home, but soon realizes that it was a big mistake. The only way to fix it is to get help from the 2056 Young Justice team, but after living under the Reach control for so long, will they risk to lose what little they have.

**December 23, 2016  
** **Gotham City  
** **12:30 PM**

Bart ran at his top speed, almost running into Madison, sliding to a stop on his side. The black haired girl looked down at the speedster, picked him up, and sat him on his feet. “Here,” said Madison as she handed him a com. Bart didn’t hesitate as he put the com in his ear and turned it on. _“New plan,”_ said Madison through the com. _“Make up your mind!”_ yelled Will through the communicator. _“Shut your mouth, Kid Flash.”_ It was rare for Madison to use their old hero names but when she did, fighting and any type of argument came to a halt.

 _“You and Bart are going to get Artemis and Aqualad. Since Will is stronger he will be taking_ _Kaldur. Bart, you get Artemis.”_ Madison looked up to the stage them back to Bart. _“Don’t drop my future mom,”_ said Abigail over the ear piece, _“She will probably kill you if you do.”_  Madison smiled, _“Everyone knows what to do after our Martians give us the cue?”_ Everyone that had a communicator said a form of ‘yes’. Except for Bart. Madison gave him a little shove, “Just follow Will. And stay whelmed.” Bart nodded.

Jayson reached over his shoulder to get his bow. Madison reached to her side to get the escrima sticks she was trained in. Beetle saw this, “Don’t do that, meat,” he said jumping down from the stage and pushing Madison to the ground. The escrima sticks fell out of her hands and rolled across the ground. She landed on her side but managed to roll to her back and propped herself up on her elbows. Jayson stopped reaching for his bow and dropped his hands to his side. Beetle laughed, “Good choice slaves.” Beetle turned around and flew back up onto the stage. The crowd that was from this time was trying to get out of the middle of Gotham but where blocked by the test subjects from the future.

Madison glared up on the stage. Jayson recognized the look on her face, “Don’t do it Maddi-” said Jayson but it was too late. Madison had found a rock on the ground and chucked it up on the stage and managing to hit Beetle in the back of the head. Everyone froze, except Madison who managed to get to her feet and had a satisfied smile on her face. The Blue Beetle dictator from the future turned around and saw Madison smiling. He swooped down and grabbed the girl and started to go straight up into the air. Madison kicked her feet and trying to get away but when she looked down she couldn’t see the individual people any more.

Back on the ground the 2016 Reach Ambassador stepped forward, “Now that Blue Beetle,” he motioned to Blue Beetle who was holding the black haired girl high in the air, “is now the dictator of this fine world.” Then the 2056 Ambassador stepped forward, “It is our way only. If you have any problems with that,” he looked up along with everyone else to the Beetle who is ready to drop the girl, “This will happen.” Beetle looked down at the girl he was holding and laughed, “Good bye, meat. Now that we have more than a billion people to test on, I do not have to make sure that you guys stay alive.” Madison was still struggling, “You’re not going to win, Beetle,” she said through clenched teeth, “The heroes will win, we always do.” Beetle pulled her closer to look her in the eye, “But not without a huge price.” He laughed once more and let go of the girl. The crowd below gasped as the girl fell toward the ground.

“We need to go help them,” said Batgirl. Nightwing was, for once, speechless and didn’t take his eyes off the screen, along with Wally, Roy and M’gann. Batman nodded, “Yes. The League will be the ones to cover this. Now that the Reach have reveled the ending result of their plan, we will now have the full support of the public.” Batman looked to his adopted son, “Nightwing,” he said finally snapping Nightwing out of his trance. He looked to the Dark Night. “Is there anyone near there that can get there faster?” said Batman. Nightwing fumbled a couple of times, Batgirl pushed Nightwing off of the computer and located a near by hero, “Uh… yeah… Blue Beetle… Jaime is the closest but I don’t think-” Batman cut her off, “Send him. Everyone will be on their way now. But Blue Beetle needs to save that girl.” 

Nightwing pushed Batgirl out of the way again and tried to show everyone that he was fine. This time, Wondergirl, growing impatient and seeing that Nightwing was off his game and not fooling anyone, pushed the older hero to the side and quickly contacted Jaime, “Wondergirl to Blue Beetle come in,” she said. There was a pause then, “Blue Beetle here. Did you see-” responded Jaime “Yeah. You are the closest and you need to get there now before-” “I know, on my way now.”  “Hurry.” The link was disconnected, Wondergirl turned to everyone else. Batman set out the order, “Lets get to Gotham. Everyone.” All the heroes in the room dashed off, Nightwing was behind everyone, lost in thought a bit. Zatanna fell behind and touched his elbow, which snapped him out of his thought, “Are you okay Dick?” she asked in a hushed voice. He nodded automatically, “I’m fine,” Zatanna gave him a questioning look and jogged ahead to meet up with Rocket, Batgirl, and Miss Martian. “Is he alright?” asked Rocket. Zatanna shrugged, “Most likely not.” Miss Martian shook her head, “I can feel the waves of emotion coming off of him.” Batgirl thought for a moment, and said, “I’m going to guess, it kind of reminds him of his parents. That girl _did_ say her last name was Grayson-” Someone shouted from the bioship for them to hurry up. The girls dropped the subject for the moment and ran off.

Jaime had quickly disconnected the com connection. _You know, Jaime Reyes, we do not know-_ “I know,” said Jaime as he sped up, when the falling girl came into sight. He had successfully caught Madison right before she hit the ground. The icy eyes looked up, “Cutting it a bit close, huh, Jaime Reyes?” Jaime looked down, shocked, at the girl. “How-?” _How-?_ said the Scarab and the human together. The present Blue Beetle had flown around and put the girl down on the ground where she was. Jayson yanked Madison away from Jaime and pushed him away, “Stay away-” Madison yanked the archer’s head down and whispered into his ear. After a series of nods and an ‘Oh!’ from Jayson the two turned back to Jaime. Madison elbowed the future Red Arrow in the side. He grunted and then said, “Sorry, Mr. Reyes, I thought-” Jaime waved his hand, “It’s fine.” The Scarab now spoke _I am picking up large amounts of Zata Radiation from this whole block, and it seems to be spreading._ After a moment of silence from the Scarab it spoke again _Also picking up a communicator connection. Hacking now-_ “What?” asked Jaime but by then he was hearing a new set of voices. _‘The Martians are near. Everyone stay ready’_ said a girl. _“It’s Maddi’s job to announce that not yours-“_ argued a guy. Madison had put her hand up to her ear, _“Both of you. Quit arguing. Stand ready,”_ said Madison.

Up above the future Blue Beetle lowered toward the ground and let out a growl to the Reach and Black Beetle, “Why isn’t he in your custody?!” he yelled. The present Reach Ambassador stepped forward, “Sorry, Blue Beetle-” Beetle had his cannon out and shot the present Reach Ambassador, who now was limp on the ground. The future Reach Ambassador looked down at his hands as he disappeared into thin air. Black Beetle looked to his future little brother. “In the future, Brother, I don’t take excuses. Either do it right or die” said Beetle. Black Beetle nodded, Black Manta and Queen Bee still had a look of shock on their faces.

Jayson nudged Madison and pointed behind the stage to a roof top where a light was blinking.

The Scarab spoke up _A Martian like creature headed this way; more are joining the first one as we speak. Calculating, at least ten will be here in three seconds-_

Madison quickly grabbed Jaime’s wrist, turned him around, and quickly zip tied his hands behind his back. She then whispered to him, “If you want to save future, and Earth, and make sure that, _that_ Beetle will never exist, don’t fight back.” Jaime opened his mouth to speak but Madison spoke first, “I wasn’t talking to you.” _Trust this girl Jaime Reyes, she speaks the truth._ Beetle looked toward Madison, from the stage and let out a chuckle, “Do you think you will survive this meat?” Out of nowhere CJ fell from the sky and landed, on his two feet, right next to Madison and Jaime. CJ stood tall and picked up the present Blue Beetle. Future Blue Beetle got ready to go after them but was hit with a massive physic wave that also hit Black Manta, Queen Bee, Black Manta’s guards, the test subjects that surrounded the area, and Black Beetle. Damian was the only one not affected on the stage. CJ took the opportunity to jump and run away. William ran at his top speed, to the stage and got Kaldur. He was followed by Bart, who was running at William’s speed, even though he could go faster. The youngest speedster picked up Artemis and followed his future cousin. 

The crowd from the future took the opportunity to start to run away and cause more chaos. Madison did three black flips and picked up her escrima sticks and ran toward the stage _‘Remember CJ, that shield doesn’t last forever, just get Jaime to the Safe Zone’_ said Madison into her com as she jumped up on stage and helped Damian hog-tie the villains. _‘Rodger that Maddi’_ replied CJ.

The future Blue Beetle had managed to turn and shoot the Martian that was affecting them. The Martian fell from the sky. Abigail had jumped quickly over the roof tops to get to the Martian’s side, with her bow in her hand. As the physic wave wore off, Blue Beetle was the only one not tied up. Madison and Damian looked around, they where the only one’s there. They both quickly headed for the nearest building, but Blue Beetle was too fast and shot a beam at Madison. She turned to dodge it but was hit in the side, the black haired girl slid across the concrete ground, and her back hit a corner of a building. Madison coughed as she tried to gain her breath again; Damian was right at her side. Blue Beetle laughed a deep, dark laugh as he approached the two remaining ‘bats’.

Madison clutched her side as she tried to role onto her back. Damian was helping her up. “You’re losing a lot of blood, really fast,” said Damian. Madison glared up at him, “No kidding, uncle D,” she said, then winced in pain. Damian threw Madison’s right arm around his neck, while she held her bleeding side with her left hand. They both felt a little nudged and where being pushed into the middle of the abandoned street, by the test subjects. Future Blue Beetle hovered over, while Black Beetle escorted the remaining villains into a ship. Blue Beetle got ready to fire at the two, Madison and Damian closed their eyes and turned their faces to the ground. There was a flash of light but it didn’t hit them. When the two looked up Conner stood in front of them, smoke coming from his chest where the ray had hit.

Miss Martian had appeared above Superboy. Nightwing, Batgirl and Robin each shot their own versions of a batarang, in an effort to try and confuse Blue Beetle. The three young ‘bats’ all ended up only a few feet from Madison and Damian. Nightwing didn’t take his eyes off of the black haired girl. Damian picked up Madison, bridal style, “I’m just going to had you off to Nightwing,” said Damian trying to stop an argument before it even happens. “Put. Me. Down,” said Madison taking sharp, deep breaths between words. “Why?” asked Damian with a little sarcasm in his voice. Madison was about to reply but a test subject came, from nowhere, and rammed into the two. Damian dropped the stubborn girl and slid across the pavement. “That’s why!” she yelled to her uncle as she rolled from her back to her side, while clutching her wound.


	10. Caught

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been a few months since Impulse had rescued Blue Beetle, but the young speedster is still acting like it happened yesterday. His mind always on something other than their missions and his change in attitude begins to worry the team and the Justice League starts to notice as well. He is closing up and after almost a year of living forty years in the past, he chooses to contact home, but soon realizes that it was a big mistake. The only way to fix it is to get help from the 2056 Young Justice team, but after living under the Reach control for so long, will they risk to lose what little they have.

Nightwing started to go over to help but was met by the test subjects. Batgirl and Robin joined Nightwing’s side, but before they got a chance to fight, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman, and a few other leaguers had temporary restrained the test subjects and the two Beetles. Damian scrambled up from his spot on the ground, feeling the now-new loose ribs in his chest, vibrate as he breathes, and looked back and forth from his niece to his future siblings. Madison had made it on her feet and was leaning up against a half-fallen-over lamp post, and held her hand against the wound on her side. Nightwing and the other members of the bat-clan looked to the future Wayne and Grayson. Damian looked at Madison, behind her and to the right was 223 sneaking up behind the black haired girl    in human form "Grayson! Nightingale! Left!"

Wonder Woman and Green Lantern where thrown back as the two Beetles broke free and then freed the test subjects. "Let's go," said Black Beetle. Blue Beetle nodded in agreement. "But they must know who they are messing with," said the Blue Beetle as he spun around toward a tall hotel and shot a beam at it. Causing the side of the building to crumble and the many people inside fall at least twenty stories to the pavement below. Nightwing took one more look at Madison and Damian. Madison had ducked the opposite way her uncle had said and kicked up with her left foot. Damian rushed forward just as Madison pulled something shiny from her brown little pouch on her side. Nightwing turned before he saw the outcome to help the people who where falling.

At least twenty people fell, all where safely caught by the heroes below. Nightwing saved the last girl and carried the little blonde haired blue eyed girl over to her parents. The little girl jumped from Nightwings hold in her and ran to her parents, who stood by the rest of the bat family. The little four-year-old's mother bent down and swooped the girl up, and the girls father rubbed the top of her head. "Maman! Papa! J'ai été sauvé par le chevalier d'ailes!” said the awestruck little girl. “Nightwing, ma petite fille,” said the girls mother. The girl’s father looks to Nightwing, “Thank you for saving my daughter,” he said in a heavy French accent. He then turns to Batgirl and Robin, “Thank you as well.” The girl’s father turns to Batman who, like always, had just appeared behind his young sidekicks. “Prime Minister,” said the Dark Knight, “a helicopter is en-route to come and take you back to France.”

The man nodded, “Thank you, Batman. You have trained the young sidekicks very well.” Then without another word he pushed his wife and daughter toward a building that was still very much stable. The little girl looked over her mother’s shoulder  and waved, “Au revoir, mon chevalier! ”  yelled the little girl as she and her family hid in the shadow of the darkened building. Batgirl let out a giggle, and Robin just smirked at Nightwing. “If you where to ask me,” started Batgirl, “that girl is a bit too young for you.” Nightwing ignored his teammate’s comment and looked over to where Damian and Madison were. In their place was a man with a small piece of metal sticking out of his side. Nightwing rushed over to the man, followed by Robin. Batgirl started to follow but was stopped by Batman, who sent her out, along with the other heroes to go and see if there was any other people stuck in the rubble.

Nightwing got to the man’s side, “What’s your name?” he quickly asked, forgetting that the man was injured. The man took a shaky breath, “Two-two-three.” Robin cut in, “No,” he said, “Your name.” The man let out a weak laugh that turned into a cough, followed by another shaky breath, “While in the metagene labs, you don’t get a name. Only a number.” He lifted  up his arm to show the dark mark of the number ‘223’ on his arm. “Branded like cattle. Tested on like lab rats. Treated like we have no sense of feel.” Nightwing and Robin where speechless, as 223 talked. He dropped  his arm and coughed again. “Two-zero-zero came into the labs with two little boys. I don’t know how she did it but she escaped. She is strong… but… can’t be trusted…” he coughed again and took a shallow breath, “Her alliance is unknown… the little bird knows more than she lets on.” He struggled to take one more breath, “Two-zero-zero and her team can’t be successful”

* * *

 

Damian rounded a corner into an alley, about three blocks away from where the battle was taking place, caring Madison. “Okay,” said Madison squirming in her uncle’s arms, “Put me down. We’re far enough away.” Damian let out a sigh and put the girl down, who immediately backed up against the building and held her side.  “That was stupid,” started Damian crossing his arms and leaning on the building next to Madison. “What was?” she asked with a slight innocent sound in her voice. Damian sighed and stood up straight and looked at the young girl. “I mean you, not dodging that blast from Beetle,” he paused as they both heard an echo of something shuffling around. “We where trained by the best,” his voice was a whisper now, “And we live in a world where we are constantly running from Beetle, dodging his attacks, so-on and so-forth. I’ve seen you dodge that blast before.” Damian reached into his pocket and pulled out a small cylindrical tube and held it over Madison’s wound.

Madison shrugged, “I guess I was caught off guard.” She looked down as the tube glowed a light blue, along with her wound. “Ow,” she hissed as the wound slowly closed and healed up. Once it was healed Damian put the alien technology back into his pocket. Madison started to poke the new scar that developed. “Yeah right,” he said walking to the entrance of the dead end alley. Madison sighed, “Fine,” she said, “It was part of the chain reaction I needed to get started in order to fix the future,” she paused, “It was part of the plan. And you said you trusted me and my ability to think out all options.” Damian looked at his niece up and down before sighing and putting a hand on her shoulder, “I do because you where trained by Dick. We might have not been blood related, but we are still brothers.” Madison gave her uncle a weird look, “Maybe you need to get back to your mom’s place. You’re going soft.” Damian gave Madison a little punch in the arm. They both laughed.

A cough from the dead end, end of the alley. Madison rolled her eyes. “Ivy, it’s fine to come out,” said Madison. Poison Ivy, not looking a day older since the Injustice League tried to take over the world, stepped out from behind a dumpster. “You two are so predictable,” said Poison Ivy, flipping her red hair over her shoulder. Damian glared at her, “Don’t you have crops to grow?” asked the future Dark Knight, “If we are going to survive we need to work together-” Poison Ivy cut him off with a laugh, “You are such a buzz kill, Batman. Just like your father. I guess it is in your DNA,” she flipped her hair again and looked at Madison, “Anyway, I need seeds, that’s why we tracked  you two. Little Miss ‘Strongest Warrior of the Court of Owls’ has the seeds that I need.” Poison Ivy put her left hand on her hip, and put her right hand out. 

Damian looked at Madison as she pulled out a few packets of unopened seeds. She was about to put the packets in the super villain’s hand but pulled up before Poison Ivy got a grip on it. “Remember my rule?” Poison Ivy hung her head back and let out an annoyed sigh, “Yes!,” she practically yelled, “Plant one seed, get two back. I know! I know!” Madison nodded and handed her the packets. Poison Ivy snatched them out of Madison hand and headed to the back of the alley, where Icicle Junior came from the sky, on a slide of ice, picked up Poison Ivy and headed off. Madison watched as the ice disappeared behind them. Damian tapped on Madison’s shoulder, “We have some trouble.” Madison turned around and froze…

* * *

Batman walked over to Nightwing and put a hand on his shoulder. “We need to find this ‘two-zero-zero’” said Nightwing. Batman grunted in agreement, “But first lets go find the girl and the boy,” said the Dark Knight. He felt Nightwing tense and even Robin could see him tense up.  “The girl will, most likely, know who this two-zero-zero is,” said Batman. Robin nodded, “We will also get a lot of answers as well.” Nightwing sighed and looked at Batman and then Robin. “Okay,” he finally gave in and stood up. “We’ll come back for 223 later,” said Batman, leading his two  masked sons toward the direction of where Damian and Madison went.

Finding where the two went, turned out to be a bit harder than they thought. Even though the three where trained detectives, the two that they where looking for where, in fact, trained by them. After searching the first two blocks, Robin began to get a bit frustrated. “I think they must have gone the other way-” he started. Nightwing shook his head, “The other way is blocked by debris. And this would have been the most logical way to go, especially with the injuries that the girl had.” Robin shrugged and continued to try to find any type of clue. Batman had returned, from a place that Robin and Nightwing didn’t even know he had gone, “We will check the next block. They couldn’t have gone that far,” he said. Robin let out a little annoyed sigh and Nightwing nodded. Batman had, once again, disappeared some where, while Robin and Nightwing started to walk down the street, not really looking for clues and just taking, what they considered, a break.

Nightwing stuck his hand out and stopped Robin, almost making him fall over. “Hey-” started Robin before Nightwing shushed him. Robin was quiet and heard what Nightwing heard. Two voices from a nearby alley. The older hero motioned Robin to follow him quietly toward the voices. When the two got to the alley they stayed around the corner and listened. “-you trusted me and my ability to think out all options,” said a girl. There was an audible sigh, “I do because you where trained by Dick. We might have not been blood related, but we are still brothers,” said a male. Robin leaned over to Nightwing, “I think these are the two that we are looking for,” he stated. Nightwing nodded. 

Robin was quiet for a little bit more and then said, “So, Bruce is going to adopt another son?” he asked.The older hero gave him a look that said ‘really?’ and ‘not right now’.  “Ivy, it’s fine to come out,” said the girl. Nightwing grew curious and looked around the corner and Robin did the same, the two people that they where looking for had their backs toward them, talking to Poison Ivy. “Do you think they are in an alliance with Poison Ivy?,” asked Robin quietly as the two heroes put their backs to the wall again. Nightwing only shrugged and began to listen again. “If we are going to survive we need to work together-” Poison Ivy cut the boy off with a laugh, “You are such a buzz kill, Batman. Just like your father. I guess it runs in your DNA.” Nightwing and Robin gave each other a confused look “Anyway,” continued Poison Ivy, “I need seeds, that’s why we tracked  you two. Little Miss ‘Strongest Warrior of the Court of Owls’ has the seeds that I need.” 

“Okay,” said Nightwing, “Time to end this little meeting.” Nightwing stood up from his  crouching position, Robin quickly followed. The two walked in front of the alley, just as Poison Ivy and Icicle Junior went off. The boy was the first to turn around and then tapped the girl on the shoulder.  “We have some trouble,” he said to the girl. Madison turned around and froze, her eyes had the look of shock. “Uh,” she started, “Hi?” Damian looked behind them and whispered to Madison, “I hope you agree that we need to escape,” Madison nodded slowly not taking her eyes off of Nightwing and Robin. “Good, fire escape. Left building.” Robin took a step forward. “You two are coming with us,” said the boy wonder. “No,” said Damian. Robin didn’t really know what to say. It’s not everyday that when you tell a possible villain that when they are “coming with us” they just don’t say no. Especially as casually as Damian just did.

 Nightwing took a step forward, “Yes you are,” he said sternly, “We have some questions for you two.” Madison nodded, “Well, that’s understandable,” Damian and Madison slowly started to back up, “Since we just, you know, appeared out of know where, and you just witness, what I’m going to guess, looked like a deal going on with Poison Ivy, so-” Damian and Madison turned quickly and ran toward the fire escape on the nearby brick building. Nightwing and Robin quickly followed, but as soon as they got to the fire escape, the two bats from the future where all ready on the roof, running toward the next building. And once Nightwing and Robin where on the roof, Damian and Madison where two buildings away. “Robin! Follow them, I’ll call for help,” said Nightwing quickly. Robin nodded and made his way, quickly over the alley ways, onto the next buildings. Nightwing put his hand up to his ear “Robin and I need help. We found two, possible, civilians. Both are, possibly, from the future. And they where making some sort of deal with Poison Ivy. Need assistance. They are escaping over the roof tops. Robin is following them, I am right behind them.” And with that, Nightwing started to jump over the gaps between buildings as well.

Damian and Madison didn’t dare look back as they jumped, easily, from building to building. “So,” panted Damian, growing tired already, “Is getting caught and possible put in jail part of your plan?” he asked still flawlessly jumping over the gaps. Madison shrugged, “Well,” she started, “no, not really. But I think if we get to the Safe Zone, we should be fine.” Damian looked to Madison, “Should-” he started to ask but missed a step and took a nasty dive, into the cement, flat, roof top. Madison started  to slow down but Damian yelled at her, “Keep going! I’ll be right behind  you!” His niece picked up speed again. The future Batman quickly got up and started to leap to the next building. In mid-air though he stopped, Damian closed his eyes and braced to hit the ground but when he opened his eyes, he saw a green bubble around him. “Great,” he mumbled as he looked up to the Green Lantern and slid down the curved side and sat down, and didn’t even both to try to escape.

Madison didn’t look back but didn’t hear her uncle behind her. As she quickly ran, seeing the last couple of buildings before she got to the outer limits of the city, she heard someone flying behind her. At the next alley, she made a quick decent, before zig-zagging through the tiny alley ways. When she saw the path, that would, no doubt in her mind, give her a bit more hope for freedom, she ran into something and fell on the ground. Madison rubbed her chin and looked around at the light blue, glowing orb around her.  “Whelp, I know when I’m beat,” she basically yelled as Rocket lifted her into the air. Damian started to laugh and could barely talk, “You-you j-just ran into-” he couldn’t even finish his sentence. 

Madison glared at her mentor, “Hey, Dami, how’s your mum” she asked, too, sweetly with a devilish smile on her face but trying to act innocent. Damian quickly stopped laughing. “Hey Mads-” he started, mocking his niece. Rocket rolled her eyes at their antics and followed Green Lantern to where Nightwing, Robin, and Batman where. “Take them to the Watchtower, and get them into the interrogation rooms,” said Batman in one tone. Madison groaned, “This is your fault Damian.” Damian laughed, “You always say that,” he countered. “Because it always is!” she yelled. Rocket looked at Batman, “Can we put a muzzle on one of them? Or both?”


End file.
